Alexander, Son of Worf
by RisingEmber
Summary: He grew up a mongrel among humans with a father that always seemed to be disappointed in him. Unable to live up to his father's expectations Alexander has now joined the Klingon Defense Forces in an effort to find his place in the galaxy but what he finds just might be more than he expected.
1. I

_A/N about Alexander's age:_

_I wrote Alexander just mere days after leaving DS9 after attending Worf and Jadzia's wedding. Alexander was born in 2366 and his father Worf was married to Jadzia Dax in the year 2374. I figured that by now he would roughly be the same age maturity wise as perhaps a 17-18 year old human since he was considered by the writers to have the maturity of a 13-16 year old during his first appearance on DS9 "Sons and Daughters". {Ronald D. Moore addresses this directly when talking about DS9: "Sons and Daughters": "We're pegging Alexander as being roughly the equivalent of a thirteen to sixteen-year-old Human male, although his actual age is much younger. Hey, Klingons mature faster, okay?" (AOL chat, 1997)}_

_Alexander was portrayed by three different actors over an eight-year period, which established that Klingon youths mature more quickly than Humans do. He first met his father in 2367 (age one, played by Jon Steuer TNG: "Reunion") appearing to be about four years old. He was later seen from 2368-2370 (age two-four, played by Brian Bonsall) appearing to be about ten years old. Alexander then served on the Rotarran (age eight, played by Marc Worden) appearing to be at least sixteen._

_Also, all Klingon words and phrases that I use are taken directly out of various reference web-sites that specialize in the Klingon language. I'm not making any of these up._

* * *

**Alexander, Son of Worf**

Alexander Rozhenko's vision cleared as the transporter beam faded away. He looked around him in the transporter room to get his first glance of the _IKS Ya'Vang_. At first everything appeared as it has on any other Klingon ship that he had ever been on. That is until he caught sight of the officer that was assigned to run the transporter. The woman was HUMAN in appearance. Not only did she look human but she was wearing the uniform of a Klingon Warrior. A strange sight indeed. The woman appeared to be roughly eighteen Earth years of age and looked far different than anyone that he would have expected to see on board a Klingon ship. There the woman behind the station that operated the transporter seemed completely out of place with her fair skin and pale blond hair yet totally comfortable in her position on board a Klingon's Warship.

"I see that you are surprised to see a hur'q (an outsider) here aboard this ship," came an abrupt comment from the woman across the room behind her station.

"Huh?" Alexander quickly ran the term hur'q through his memory since he was still learning some of the Klingon terms that he would hear now that he was an officer in the Klingon Defense Force. Hur'q, a term that he'd heard a few times to describe himself given the fact that he had not grown up around other Klingons. "Oh, I just wasn't expecting a human is all," Alexander said honestly.

"Nor does anyone else that steps off of that transporter pad," the officer said briskly. "You are expected to meet with the First Officer upon your arrival. From there your quarters will be assigned. As on all of the other warships in the Forces during the war with the Dominion, space is at a premium these days. You will likely have at least one bunk mate."

Alexander nodded his understanding since he was familiar with the process of being transferred to another ship. Fortunately, most of his crew-mates from the _IKS Rotarran_ had been transferred to this ship as well so at least he was not completely alone on the new ship. After a rocky start, he and his crew-mates had developed a bond and they no longer held his clumsiness against him. He could only hope that the crew of this ship would be as understanding.

* * *

Alexander stood along with the rest of his crew-mates as they were officially welcomed to the _Ya'Vang_ in the now familiar Klingon fashion. They had been brought on board to replace the crew members that had been killed with the ship's last conflict with the Dominion. That fact alone was enough to remind Alexander that this ship was one that was designated for the front-lines, a dangerous place to be on in any ship. A fact made all the more dangerous while on board a Klingon vessel. After all, for most Klingons being placed in life-threatening situations was perceived as opportunities to further one's family honor. Of course Alexander wasn't like most other Klingons. His mother had been half human, his father had been raised by humans and Alexander had spent much of his childhood bouncing back and forth from Earth and the Enterprise. He had grown up with very little actual first-hand experience with other Klingons outside of his father; even experience with his own father was quite limited. In many ways he was far more human than Klingon, regardless of what his DNA said.

Still, in the last year since first joining the Klingon Defense Forces Alexander had learned to blend in with the other Klingons on most levels. Well, once he had found a certain level of amusement in the eyes of the rest of the crew. He was the youngest member of the crew and it seems that he was now given some leeway in his position while on board the _Rotarran_. He had become a kind of mascot for them. Many of the_ Rotarran's_ crew had developed a belief that the more that he suffered from one of his clumsy spells the better the ship would do in the next battle. A fact that Alexander knew was still a thing of embarrassment for his father back on DS9. Even so, his father had held to his end of the bargain that they had struck after their reunion when he had first been assigned onto General Martok's ship. His father had been trying to be more tolerant of his son's mishaps and sense of humor about them while admitting that he needed to try to be a better father.

Alexander had not seen or heard from his father in the five years up to that point. He can still remember the surprised look that had crossed his father's face when he had first seen him following in behind the other four crewmen that had been transferred from the _IKS Vor'nak_. Alexander fought a smile as he left the bridge and went to find his crew quarters to unpack his meager possessions that he kept with him no matter where he was stationed. Though for the life of him he couldn't understand why he kept some of those belongings. He wondered if the sentimental attachment to them stemmed from his human blood that ran through his veins. Walking down the corridor towards the quarters Alexander nodded to various other Klingons that roamed the ship. When he reached his assigned quarters he found that he would once again be sharing the room with Ch'Targh; both his first adversary and friend on board the _Rotarran_. It had been him that had first initiated the teasing that he had endured during his first meal on board the ship. It had also been him that took the first step at accepting the youngest of the crew after Alexander had failed to remember to erase a battle simulation program from the sensor display. His first foul up while on the ship; not by any means his last.

"It would seem that we are to enjoy one another's company once more," Ch'Targh said loudly as he stowed his own belongings in his assigned alcove in the room.

"It would seem so. I'll try to keep things interesting for you," Alexander chuckled.

"That I'm sure that you will. Well, let's see if the others are settled in as well." Ch'Targh said as he clapped his young friend on the back and steered him toward the door. "Then perhaps after we have had a meal to toast our new home we can get some combat training in. Today just might be the day that you surprise me."

Alexander gave his self-appointed mentor a wry grin. "And here I thought that I always surprise you." True that was usually based on his unplanned mishaps but that was beside the point.

"That you do, my young friend. That you do." Ch'Targh belted out with a hearty laugh.

Once on the Mess Deck Alexander and Ch'Targh were joined by Kornan and Katogh (two others that had transferred over from the _Rotarran_). The four men all began their meal of bregit lung, gladst and a glass of warnog to wash it down. As the four discussed various news about the Dominion War Alexander caught sight of the human that had worked in the transporter room walk in with other female Klingons and sit across the room with them for her own meal.

"I see you have noticed the hur'q," Kornan observed with amusement.

Alexander glanced back at the other Klingon that was only a few years older than his nine years of age. "I have to say that I never expected to see a human onboard a Klingon vessel."

"Not exactly human. I was told that she is a betazoid." Kornan snickered at the thought of a telepath serving on board the ship as well.

"What is she doing on board the _Ya'Vang_?" Alexander asked while keeping one eye on the unusual crewman.

"From what I was told, she was raised by Lor'vah of the house of K'maj'ik," Kornan said as he, too, watched the strange blond woman. He then continued to fill his shipmates in on what he had learned about the sole non-Klingon in the Klingon Defense Forces.

Meanwhile, across the Mess Deck K'nera was sitting down with a raktajino and her own lunch while listening to her friend's assessment of the new crewmen that had been to sent to replace the men that they had lost during their last conflict with the Jem'Hadar. The other woman was roughly the same age in years as K'nera but given Klingon maturation she was much older than she in many ways; something that amused K'nera's companion to no end.

"Oh come on, surely you have to enjoy the prospect of new men on board. Like that one over there, for instance." DedaJ said with a laugh since she knew that her friend did not possess the hot Klingon blood that made the female of her species so sensuous.

"Don't you think that he is a little young for you, DedaJ? I doubt that he is even ten Earth years old." K'nera knew that most other non-Klingon races would have a difficult time aging the younger members of the species but K'nera had been raised among Klingons so she was highly adept at pin-pointing the ages of nearly any Klingon she met. One Earth year (being the standard measurement of time throughout the quadrant) was nearly the same as three on Qo'noS. It was a measurement that K'nera would use to judge her own age since she wasn't comfortable with referring to herself as being nearly sixty-years old already by the Klingon standard.

"Oh, I don't know. He's of age after all," DedaJ said with a devious grin. "But I was thinking along the lines of something else."

"What are you up too?"

"Up too? JIqta'! (you have wounded me)" DedaJ chuckled.

K'nera looked hard at her friend before glimpsing at the thoughts of the other woman. Rolling her eyes while shaking her head she reached for her Klingon coffee, "When you are not on duty you truly have a one track mind, DedaJ. I'm not looking for a laqtel. (boyfriend)"

"At least I know how to enjoy my off hours, wIj jup. (my very good friend)" DedaJ grinned widely since she could tell that she was embarrassing her betazoid friend. To further that embarrassment DedaJ brought to mind a few choice images that she was well aware of the fact that her telepathic friend would pick up on the thoughts even if she didn't particularly want to.

"BIjatlh 'e' yImev! (Shut up!)" K'nera scowled.

Snickering, "Suit yourself."

* * *

Alexander squinted as he could swear that he'd seen something show up on the sensors that he was monitoring. When he saw the anomaly show up once again he called out to the captain. "Captain, there is something out there. Bearing one-one-seven-four."

"Report!" Captain M'jaK shouted to toward Alexander's station.

"A Jem'Hadar patrol ship running active polaron scans of the sector."

"Have they detected us yet?" M'jaK stalked over toward the Bekk's station to view the read out for himself.

"It doesn't appear so," Alexander said as he saw that the blip on his own screen continued past them without returning to their location.

"Good, then we will have the element of surprise on our side. Prepare to lower the cloak and raise the shields," M'jaK shouted.

"Alert Status One! Battle stations!" The first officer announced over the ship's comm system.

Alexander returned his attention to his monitor and watched as the Klingon ship closed the distance with the Jem'Hadar vessel. Personally he thought that going against the Jem'Hadar needlessly was suicide. Even if the _Ya'Vang_ was one of the largest class of Klingon warships. There was something to be said with choosing one's battles. Alexander knew better than to voice such opinions, however. Such thoughts were considered to be a weakness so the young Bekk Officer threw himself into mentally bracing himself for the pending battle instead of dwelling on them.

Ch'Targh must have guessed Alexander's reluctance since he spoke up with the Klingon rallying cry, "Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam! (Today is a good day to die)"

"Batlh bIHeghjaj! (May you die well!)"

Alexander joined the other men and women on the bridge gave the usual response to the battle cry though he couldn't say that he felt as enthusiastic as the others did about the prospect of fighting the Jem'Hadar with nothing of real importance hanging in the balance. He knew that in his heart that General Martok had accessed him correctly when he had said that Alexander did not hear the cry of a warrior's blood calling him to battle. Not just for the sake of fighting at least. Alexander would fight when he needed to but he preferred to find alternatives when they were available. To most Klingons, that line of thinking was considered cowardice; Alexander considered it being smart. After all, why die in a worthless battle today if you can insure that you can fight an important one tomorrow?

As the ship engaged the Jem'Hadar vessel all thoughts ceased while training and instinct took over. Much of it came as a total blur to Alexander but when their shields were weakened he became very aware of the fact that three Jem'Hadar warriors appeared on the bridge; one of which materialized mere feet from him. Again instinct took over as he stood to face the alien that was intent on his own death. All around him other Klingons were shouting and joined to face the three intruders. Alexander saw the Jem'Hadar close to him draw his weapon so he reached out and grabbed the phaser rifle and pointed the barrel away from him. The Jem'Hadar struck Alexander in the abdomen and then sent the young Klingon into the console behind him. Across the bridge other Klingons all engaged in battle with the two other enemy warriors as well; all around the sounds of the battle for the bridge. Katogh threw himself into the fray and attacked the nearest Jem'Hadar along with the other Klingons on the bridge. Meanwhile the Captain and the First Officer were fighting off the third Dominion intruder.

While the two Jem'Hadar fighters engaged the rest of the bridge crew the first one was still hovering over Alexander as he tried to find his feet to fight back against the genetically engineered warrior. As he got back up he felt the deck plates below his feet fall away as the Jem'Hadar lifted Alexander up by the neck, no doubt with the intention of killing him. Feeling his airways being crushed, Alexander reached down for his knife in its holster and drew his hand back and stabbed blindly in effort to cause the larger warrior to release him. When he got lucky and sliced the tube that released the white into the reptilian's system it caused the man to drop Alexander giving him a chance to catch his breath. By this time Ch'Targh had been able to make his way to Alexander with the intention of aiding the inexperienced youth in his fight. Seeing that the Jem'Hadar was in distress Ch'Targh used his own knife and slit the throat of offending scaly beast.

Captain M'jaK looked around once he had finished with his own opponent and saw that the bridge was once more in their control. "Report! What is the status of our shields?"

Katogh quickly read over his monitor and shouted out, "They're back up but only at forty percent."

"Captain, we still have six Jem'Hadar on board. Half of them are in engineering; the other three are in the corridor thirteen, section four." Ch'Targh replied. "I have erected force fields to contain them."

"Good, send defense crews down to take care of them," M'jaK called out.

"Aye sir."

Alexander resumed his position at the Bekk's station while he was still gasping for breath. Another second or two and the Jem'Hadar would have crushed his throat completely. He could feel the strain on his system as he tried to pull air into his lungs. He was injured but he couldn't let that stop him from performing his duties.

"Captain! Their deflector shields are down."

"Weapons, arm the torpedoes!"

"Torpedoes armed."

"BaH!" The captain ordered the officer to open fire on the Jem'Hadar ship.

On the view screen two torpedoes could be seen as they were launched toward the enemy ship. When the vessel exploded the bridge crew sent up cheers of delight. Once the ship was destroyed the remaining intruders on board the _IKS Ya'Vang_ were killed and the crew that needed to be seen in the Medical Ward began to make their way to have their injuries seen to. The bridge crew would be the last to leave their posts. Alexander sat in at his console while he tried to avoid gaining attention of his comrades as he struggled for his breaths. He was not entirely successful.

"You should head on down to the Medical Ward, my young friend," Ch'Targh said in a hushed tone as he bent down to speak with Alexander. "You are injured."

"Not unlike any other member of this crew," Alexander said coarsely while he avoided the older man's gaze. "I'll live."

"Do not be stubborn. Any fool can see that you can barely breathe," Ch'Targh scolded his pupil. "You have nothing to prove anymore."

"I disagree. In case you haven't noticed, this isn't the _Rotarran_."

"Your point being…?"

"While you and the others from the_ Rotarran_ have learned to accept me for who I am, I have yet to earn the respect of this crew," Alexander insisted.

"You are as stubborn as your father," Ch'Targh muttered. It had become his habit of using that phrase when he felt that it would be the only way to convince the Son of Worf to try to prove him wrong. It was no secret that despite the timid truce between them there was still some underlying hostility in regards to the father/son relationship.

"Perhaps. But for now I'll wait for the end of my duty shift before heading down to the Medical Ward." Alexander then continued to scan the surrounding space for more Jem'Hadar ships in the area. He was glad when he found none on his sensors. "Ch'Targh, I... appreciate your concern but it is unwarranted."

"Oh it's warranted alright," the older Klingon said as he went to return to his own console. Maybe he had drilled some of his lessons for a warrior into the younger man too well. He had told Alexander to not allow others to perceive him as weak. He was just putting that lesson to practice. Alexander planned to bear the pain just as long as any other member of the bridge crew. He may be the youngest, even the weakest in many ways, but he could also be the most strong-willed of any Klingon on the vessel.


	2. II

Alexander waited patiently for the Medical Officer to examine him as he looked around at the evidence of the Jem'Hadar's assault on his crew-mates. There were several Klingons on the bio-beds; some of them were alive, others were obviously dead and were in the process of being removed from the Medical Ward. Once the more severely wounded officers were treated the Medical Officer then moved on to Alexander and used the osteo-regenerator to repair the damage to his trachea. Alexander waited for the procedure to be finished without complaint as was expected then got up off of the exam table and prepared to leave the Medical Ward when he caught sight of the only non-Klingon on board.

"What happened to her?" Alexander asked the Medical Officer before he turned away.

"K'nera was with the others in Engineering when the Jem'Hadar boarded," the other Klingon said as he glanced back at his other patient.

"Will she be alright?" Alexander was concerned by the fact that the young woman in question appeared to be injured quite extensively.

"She fought well for a non-Klingon but her anatomy is not designed for battle." The Medical Officer finished up with the young Bekk Officer and nodded before he continued, "But this is not the first time that she's been caught up in battle during her brief station on board the ship; she'll survive."

Alexander glanced back at the young woman before leaving the Medical Ward. He then headed back to his quarters for some down-time before he was to meet with Ch'Targh for his daily battle training session. He couldn't understand why he didn't take the same offense to Ch'Targh's training methods as he always had with is own father's. After all, Ch'Targh's training just might be even harder than Worf's at times. But Alexander never saw the shame in Ch'Targh's eyes that he had countless times in his father's. From the time he first met his father, Alexander always seemed to bring one disappointment to his father after another. As a young boy he had tried to live up to his father's impossible standard of what it meant to be a Klingon but no matter how hard he had tried Alexander always failed.

When Alexander reached his quarters and pulled out his trombone he sighed. Yet one more item that proved just how much his human blood influenced his behavior, dreams, desires and hobbies. Commander William Riker had been the one to give him his love of the instrument. Something that Alexander was certain the man had done with the intent to get under his father's skin. The Commander, while all business when it was necessary, definitely knew how to have fun when the occasion would arise. In fact, it had been the Commander that had taught him to play poker when he and Counselor Troi had come to visit him on Earth. The Counselor knew that the fact that they came to see him while his father hadn't was a sore spot for him. Five years his father had stayed away with not a single word from him...

Shaking his head, Alexander attempted to banish the thoughts that he'd tried to leave behind him when he and his father had first met back up again while on board the _Rotarran_. He placed the mute in the end of the brass instrument to keep the noise level down for the others that might be in the surrounding quarters (after all he was well aware of the fact that these quarters were not sound-proofed in the same way that Federation ships were) and began to play one of his favorite pieces. It was a soulful piece that tended to calm his nerves when he needed to have a clearer head. Alexander knew that if he went into training without calming down a bit Ch'Targh would practically wipe the floor with him. Not that he couldn't do so any day of the week but thanks to the other man's help Alexander was getting better at being able to defend himself; as was evident today after his battle with the Jem'Hadar. It was close but at the end of the day Alexander had survived.

Glancing at the chronometer Alexander saw that it was time to make his way to the training room so he carefully put his instrument away and made his way down. When he arrived Ch'Targh was not there just yet but other members of the ship were. He had dreaded this day but he knew it would come eventually. This group had shown obvious contempt for the hybrid that had been transferred on board.

While Alexander looked fully Klingon his name was a dead giveaway that he was not a PURE Klingon. His mother, Ambassador K'Ehleyr was half human and held a strong level of disdain for her Klingon half; even if she had made a career of trying to bring both the Klingons and the Federation together in peace. As such she had given her son a very HUMAN name. She had wanted her son to embrace his human-side as well and had taught him very little about the Klingon culture. It had only been during his brief stays with his father after his mother had died that he had been introduced to the ways of the Klingons; or at least his father's interpretation of them. As Alexander grew he had come to learn that much of his father's beliefs of what a Klingon should be came from idealized text, not from any firsthand knowledge of the race.

Seeing that he was alone with the other four Klingons, Alexander did his best not to show just how timid he really felt in the presence of the others who had shown such animosity towards him. Up to this point he had always had the support of the other crew members that had been transferred with him from the _Rotarran_ when Alexander had come across them. They had only taken their taunting but so far when Ch'Targh or the others were around. Now the youngest member of the crew was alone and wasn't sure just what he'd be able to do if these older, rougher, Klingons decided to give him a lesson in battle training of their own.

"Well if it isn't the Son of Worf," came the voice of one of the men. "I would have expected for you to be serving on board a FEDERATION starship." Alexander heard the sneer in his voice when he said the word Federation.

"Oh no, R'njol, the Federation wouldn't accept his kind. Even THEY cannot allow but so many with a traitor's blood within their ranks."

Alexander took a deep breath before responding, "Obviously, you have been misinformed. There have been no traitors in my family. That shame has fallen to the House of Duras; not the House of Mogh."

At that point both R'njol and his companions' eyes lit in fury. These men had fought on behalf of the Duras family and did not take comments that disrespected the family lightly. After letting some Klingon explicits fly the men all lunged forward to tackle the young hybrid-Klingon. Alexander saw the glint of a blade being drawn so he drew his instinctively and did his best to fight off the four other men while being severely out-numbered and over-powered.

Alexander mentally prepared himself as the men quickly leapt across the room to reach the impertinent young man. Alexander knew instantly that he was in over his head but also knew that he had no choice but to fight both for his own honor and possibly his own survival.

* * *

Ch'Targh made his way down to the training area along with Kornan and Katogh. The men often would join him and Alexander when they trained which allowed Ch'Targh to expand his training beyond fighting one on one. The two other men had served on board the _Rotarran_ and were good men. Both had accepted Alexander along with the rest of the crew. However, just like Ch'Targh, they worried about their young friend at times when it came to blending in with the other Klingons. There had been more than just a few occasions that had made it clear that Alexander was out of his element while surrounded by his own kind in a foreign culture and using a different language than he was used to after spending almost no time with other Klingons (with the exception of his father) for the first nine years of his life.

All three of the Klingons that were currently making their way toward the training area had each intercepted some of the battle hardened crewmen of the _Ya'Vang_ as they had intended to test the young crossbreed that had been transferred only days earlier to the ship. Had it not been for their watching over Alexander during this initial time on board the _IKS Ya'Vang_ he most likely would have been spending most of his time in the Medical Ward.

"Today, I think we'll start with battle tactics regarding-" Ch'Targh was cut short as he opened the hatch to the training room to reveal his young charge was in the midst of an all-out brawl with four other Klingons. Ch'Targh and his companions rushed in to aid the out-numbered younger man. Ch'Targh knew that Alexander had one thing going for him at the moment; the weapons of choice that had been drawn were D'k tahgs. Although he was clumsy with the Bat'leth, Alexander had some proficiency with the D'k tahg. Even he had felt the sting of its blade during their first encounter back on the _Rotarran_. Still, with the odds four to one, Ch'Targh knew that the young man would not be able to hold his own for long.

Kornan and Katogh rushed forward and began to battle against two of R'njol's buddies. The third was still paired up with the group's ring leader and both were facing off with Alexander who was then joined by Ch'Targh. From there a flurry of activity engulfed the room as blades were flung to the side, fists connected with hard flesh and bodies were thrown against the walls of the training room. R'njol then turned toward Ch'Targh with his D'k tahg at the ready just as the hatch opened to reveal the First Officer as he prepared to bellow at his crewmen to cease their quarreling. Ordinarily he enjoyed watching a good fight just as much as any other Klingon but today they were already short staffed due to the altercation with the Jem'Hadar; it would not be wise to allow this to continue to run its course today.

R'njol and his cohorts pulled back reluctantly at the behest of their superior as Ch'Targh and Alexander pulled back their own companions. It was made clear by the glares that Alexander was receiving that this fight was far from over. He was not welcomed aboard this ship as a hybrid and the other Klingons had taken it upon themselves to see to it that his impure blood would be spilt sooner rather than later.

The First Officer gave a quick glance over of the men and found that most of them could be sent to their quarters without needing any real medical attention. The youngest of the men, however, clearly had not been so lucky. He had been slashed with the blades of the others several times and, despite the fact that he was trying to hide it, he clearly had a few broken ribs.

"Alexander, you will go straight to the Medical Ward to see to your injuries. The rest of you, you are restricted to your quarters until your next watch. Dismissed!"

Alexander wanted to protest that he did not need to see the ship's physician, if for no other reason but to prevent himself as being seen as weak by the other men, but he knew all too well not to balk at a direct order. Alexander clenched his jaw and gave a brisk nod as he made his way toward the corridor with his companions close behind him. If he had not been so upset at his pride being kicked about due to his injuries while the other men sustained none he would have taken a great deal of pleasure from the fact that his friends had fought at his side; a sure sign that they, if no one else on this ship, had truly accepted him. He was one of them. Regardless of his human blood or upbringing, Alexander had been accepted as a member of their ranks. That meant more to him, perhaps, than he was really able to admit. Acceptance for who he was has eluded him his entire life; starting with his father, then the other children on the Enterprise and of course the children that he grew up around on Earth. His entire existence had been one of an outcast. This fight today, however, proved that he had proven himself and his own worth to at least the three men that were even now walking behind him.

As the four Klingons neared the end of the corridor where they would part ways, himself toward the Medical Ward and the others toward the living quarters, Alexander felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw that it belonged to Ch'Targh. His mentor gave him a silent nod as if in approval before he turned toward their shared room and Alexander was almost certain that he saw a look that he would have killed to see coming from his own father's eyes. There was pride in the older Klingon's expression. Alexander had been out-numbered and over-powered but he had held his own until his companions had stumbled upon the fight. He had learned to take care of himself and was no longer the boy that needed his father or anyone else to fight his battles for him as Ch'Targh had feared when he had first met him on the _Rotarran_.

Alexander gave the Klingon a wry grin before heading off to get patched up; no longer feeling shame in having to do so. Once he had reached his destination, Alexander waited patiently for the physician to tend his wounds for the second time in as many hours. Currently the old doctor was speaking with the Betazoid and Captain M'jaK on the other side of the small ward. Curious as to why the Captain would take such a special interest in the blond woman's welfare, Alexander tried to strain his ears to catch what the others were saying as he waited his turn to be seen.

"Given her weaker anatomy I would prefer that K'nera remain here for the rest of the day."

M'jaK gave a glance to his brother's charge and knew very well that she was fighting the urge to disrespect the doctor's opinion by rolling her eyes. This was by far not the first time that she had ended up in the Medical Ward of the ship and he was well aware of the fact that this would likely not be the last time either. K'nera could at times be foolish enough to forget that she did not possess the same Klingon blood as the rest of the crew; as had been very evident when she had been the one to lead the fight against the Jem'Hadar that had invaded the engineering department earlier in the day. M'jaK knew that Lor'vah will be pleased to hear of his adopted daughter's fighting spirit but at times he himself wished that the young woman had not chosen to enlist in the Defense Forces. As Captain of this ship he had enough to deal with while facing down the Dominion without wondering how the sole Betazoid on board was fairing during a battle.

M'jaK caught sight of his _niece _and nearly growled at the knowledge that she would not remain in the Medical Ward even if he ordered her to. Every Klingon on this ship would think twice before refusing a direct order but K'nera was not Klingon nor did she seem to have the same qualms about speaking her mind when hers differed than his or anyone else's. And now, it was clear that K'nera did not agree with the determination that she should remain in the Medical Ward for the rest of the day or the coming night.

"Given that things seem to be a little busy around here, perhaps it will be for her to remain in her quarters for the rest of the day instead." M'jaK gave K'nera a stern look that he hoped would indicate that he would not tolerate for her to balk at this compromise that he was trying to broker on her behalf since it seemed prudent to do so at the moment. "That should allow you to concentrate your efforts on the rest of the crew. I need them all at their peak conditions should we intercept the Jem'Hadar again in the near future."

The doctor nodded and headed toward the next patient that he had to tend to and left to leave the young woman with the captain of the ship. As he looked around to see his remaining patients he noticed that one that he had treated only a couple of hours ago had returned. Well, he would have to wait since he still had others that needed him before he could see to the young Bekk Officer.

The Captain, too, noticed Alexander and walked over and asked if there was anything wrong since he knew that he had come to the Medical Ward earlier with the rest of the Bridge Crew; he shouldn't have had the need to return so quickly.

"It is of no concern, Captain. Just a minor incident in the Training Room is all, Sir." Alexander straightened his stance as much as he could while biting back a wince.

"I see," M'jaK raised a brow as he responded. He was well aware of the fact that the spreading belief that Klingons have lost their true identities as warriors as they have allowed themselves to be drawn into peaceful alliances had a firm hold among some of his crew. A belief had spread shortly after K'nera had been assigned to the ship. M'jaK suspected that Alexander's presence on board the _Ya'Vang_ gave those that had been angered by K'nera's being posted on the ship a convenient target for all of the animosity that had been brewing among the Klingons on board. Still, he suspected that if the hybrid was to remain among his crewmen then he must prove that he was able to handle such attacks. M'jaK decided that it was wisest to leave any further comment about his suspicions as to how he had ended up in the Medical Ward for the second time today unspoken. He then checked on his other crew members before he left to return to the bridge.

Once M'jaK was gone, K'nera approached Alexander and made her own assessment of the younger officer's injuries. "R'njol really did a number on you, didn't he?"

Alexander face contorted in confusion, "How did you know?"

K'nera indicated the slash pattern that was on Alexander's chest. "That's his signature. He always fights in a predictable fashion so the damage that he does is usually fairly consistent."

"Oh," Alexander was a bit embarrassed a bit under the female's scrutiny. Knowing that she was a telepath, Alexander did his best to keep his thoughts under a tight rein. Still, the pain that he was currently in made doing so much more difficult to do so.

K'nera shook her head to clear it from some of the residual pain that she was sensing from the Klingons in the room, including the one standing before her. She then leaned in and spoke in a whisper. "R'njol is not without his own weaknesses. His right knee; it was crushed last year and he was without medical care for more than a week. It is nowhere near as strong as his other one. If you time it right you can use that to your advantage the next time you find yourself tangling with him."

Alexander cast a confused look to the blond woman before asking, "Why are you telling me this?"

K'nera shrugged, "I don't like him. It'd be good for him to be taken down a few levels. If it came from you… I just think that it would be a bit fitting, that's all. But for right now, I know R'njol and I think that it'd be wise if you watched your back. If he's already honed in on you now he isn't likely to suddenly start going easy on you later."

"You sound as if you know that for a fact."

"Let's just say that even if I wasn't a Betazoid it wouldn't take much to realize that if anything ever happened to the Captain that I'd be dispatched very shortly afterwards. R'njol is at the head of a xenophobic group on board the ship. They are part of a larger group that is spreading throughout the Empire. So like I said, watch yourself." With that K'nera turned and left the Medical Ward leaving Alexander to contemplate her words of warning.


	3. III

Alexander fought the urge to rub his tired eyes as he monitored his view screen for any enemy ships in the area. He was nearly finished with a double rotation cycle on the bridge and he was looking forward to collapsing in exhaustion in his quarters and sleeping straight through to the next rotation. The only thing that could make his bed more appealing at the moment was if it had been the soft one that he'd had back on Earth at his grandparents' home rather than the metal rack that was standard on all Klingon ships. Still, as tired as he was he doubted that he'll even notice its rigidness. He only had to make it through another quarter of an hour and he would be free to seek out his well-deserved sleep.

The crew had been on constant alert for weeks now since they've been assigned well behind the enemy-lines and have had run-ins with the Jem'Hadar nearly on a daily basis while on their current assignment. Today had been no different. His shift had started off in battle and he had remained on the bridge while those that normally would relieve the bridge staff were busy with repairs on the ship. The reason for their mission so far behind the lines was that they were to locate the Jem'Hadar's shipyard so that the allied forces of the Klingon Empire and the Federation can make plans to destroy it. Already six other ships have been destroyed and their crews killed while on this exact same mission. The _Ya'Vang's_ crew hoped for success but knew far too well that it would likely be brought about at the cost of their very lives.

Finally, Alexander was permitted to find his quarters. Granted, he was hungry as well and probably should head down to the Mess Deck first but at the moment he felt he needed rest more than nourishment. When he reached his quarters he was met by a sight that he hadn't expected. His belongings had been ransacked and his trombone was out of its case and had been mangled to the point that he knew irreparable damage had been done. Alexander knew that Ch'Targh would never tamper with his belongings nor would any of the men that he'd transferred over with from the _Rotarran_. That only left someone from the rest of the _Ya'Vang's_ crew.

In the weeks that he'd been stationed on the _Ya'Vang_, Alexander'd had more than one run-in with some of the isolationists that had resented the hybrid's presence on board; especially R'njol. The two had fought an additional two times since their first encounter in the Training Room and it now seemed that the other man had decided to take a different approach to his attacks on Alexander and his character. All in an effort to try to get him to put in a request for a different assignment.

Sighing, Alexander threw his damaged belongings in waste processor and collapsed on his bed. While R'njol had no honor and had attacked him once more in a cowardly manner retaliating against the man would gain him nothing. R'njol had quite a following on the ship and complaining of the man's treatment would only make Alexander appear to be weak; human even. He knew that living among other Klingons would not be easy. His appointment on Martok's flagship had been a good assignment while he was getting adjusted to the cultural difference that he had grown up with; the General had been accepting of him all of the way to the point of bringing him into his own house. Here, with the exception of his comrades that had transferred with him from the _Rotarran_, he was not given as much leeway in his ignorance of various Klingon customs and traditions.

Alexander's last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were those of acknowledgement that it would be a long time before he should replicate the Earth belongings that had been destroyed. He was no longer on Earth and such items did not belong on board a Klingon Warship.

* * *

Alexander bolted up on his rack as the alarm sounded throughout the ship. Dull red lights were flashing around the room to signal that the ship had been placed on Alert Status One. Across the room, Ch'Targh was already on his feet and was prepared leave out of their shared room before Alexander had even sat up. The younger Klingon swung his legs over the side of his sleeping rack and joined Ch'Targh as he left and made his way out into the corridor where a flurry of activity was going on.

Alexander ran past other crewmen as he headed toward his off-duty battle station. The ship rocked as the Jem'Hadar that were shooting at the _Ya'Vang _found their mark and weakened the ship's shields. Before Alexander reached his battle station the air shimmered in front of him and a Jem'Hadar warrior materialized not more than a meter out of arm's reach. Alexander quickly reached for his side arm and engaged in battle just as the other Klingons around him had. By the end of the battle with the Jem'Hadar, Alexander had sustained minor phaser burns but he was inwardly proud of himself for his lack of sustaining serious injuries.

Alexander was then given orders to assist in engineering to help repair the damage done by the latest round with the Dominion. Among the systems damaged, the various hydraulic systems were among them. Alexander knew from experience that he would be assigned to help work on those systems since they were located in a very tight fitting compartment; with his smaller stature than the other Klingons on board it was much easier for him to squeeze into such small enclosures than it was for his compatriots. What he was not prepared for, however, was that he was assigned to work alongside the lone Betazoid on the ship though after further thought Alexander supposed that it only made sense considering that their size was pretty much the same compared to the rest of the crew. Alexander grabbed up the tools that he'd need then proceeded behind K'nera toward the repair tubes that resembled the Jeffry's Tubes on the _Enterprise_. The two then crawled far into the interior of the Warship and went right to work without any fanfare.

Outside of their brief conversation in the Medical Ward where K'nera had warned him of the brewing tensions rising on board the _Ya'Vang_ in regards to having outsiders on a Klingon ship the two had not really had a chance to speak and had merely passed by one another in the corridors. Now that he was alone with the woman that seemed more at home surrounded by Klingons than he did Alexander wasn't sure what to say to her. Instead he allowed a somewhat comfortable silence fall between them and the only sounds that the two of them made were requesting that the other hand them a tool as they worked. After more than an hour of working on the system those sounds were joined by another much to Alexander's embarrassment. His stomach groaned loudly to protest the fact that between his double rotation shift the day before and his going to sleep without going to the Mess Deck then adding the battle and repair work to his schedule it had been more than thirty hours since the last time he had eaten anything.

K'nera looked up from her work at the sound and saw Alexander's face flush with embarrassment. "Hungry?"

"I, uh…" Alexander stuttered knowing that there was no way to really answer the question in a way that could hide his humiliation at not being able to hide his error of not seeing to his meal the night before.

K'nera reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out a nutrition bar and tossed it to Alexander. "I guess you haven't learned to keep a few of these on hand just in case yet. Don't worry, I was starting to get a little hungry, myself." K'nera reached into another pouch and pulled out a nutrition bar for herself as well and began to open it. "I'm surprised that you couldn't hear MY stomach earlier. It's been growling ever since we came in here."

"You carry these on you all the time?" Alexander asked as he took K'nera's lead and began to open his scant meal.

K'nera nodded, "Actually, a lot of the crew do. They just won't admit to it. They all want to appear to be able to go for days without eating if they have to. The trick is to just not allow anyone to SEE you eating. But even the most foolish of them know that it would be unwise to ACTUALLY try to live out that perception."

"I'll have to remember that." Alexander gave her a smile of gratitude at his new found information, as well as the meal, and began to eat the small bar. It was rather tasteless but at least it would calm the growling in his stomach until he could get to the Mess Deck.

After a few more moments of silence K'nera allowed her curiosity loose and asked, "What was it like?" Seeing Alexander raise his head with a confused look on his face she continued, "Growing up away from the Empire, what was it like?"

Of all of the people to ask him that question, Alexander had not expected for the woman from Betazed to be the one to ask it now. Alexander shrugged, "I had very little to compare it to. It was just about all that I'd ever known. Even before my mother died when I was young I was raised much like a human child would have been. After her death… I didn't return to the Klingon home world until I'd decided to join the Defense Forces."

K'nera leaned back against the wall of the repair tube and considered her next question but received one of her own instead.

"What about you? What was it like to grow up the only Betazoid in the Empire?"

K'nera shook her head; Alexander had turned her own question on her. "Challenging," she said honestly. "As I suppose you could imagine. It probably paralleled your own difficulties with fitting in at times. But at the same time I couldn't imagine growing up anywhere else. I had adoptive brothers and sisters, cousins and friends to play with though I was always being left behind." Alexander raised a brow at the last comment so K'nera explained, "It's not easy finding a friend to play with as a child knowing that they will only be your own age but for a short time."

Alexander nodded. Yes, he'd frequently outgrown any playmates he had; both on Earth and on the _Enterprise_. Despite wanting to remain friends, the human children were far more frail compared to him. They couldn't rough-house for long without Alexander risking injuring one of his friends. In fact, shortly after he'd returned to Earth after he'd left the _Enterprise_ for the last time he'd severely injured another boy in school during a wrestling match. That had been one of the things that had been so hard to get used to after joining the other Klingons. Among his peers on Earth he'd been considered to be the strongest of all of them. Now he was known as the weak hybrid.

K'nera cocked her head as she sensed Alexander's thoughts and considered reminding the young man that he had not yet reached his full maturity but something told her that it was probably best to not remind him at the moment his private thoughts were not quite as private as he considered them to be.

"I can understand that," Alexander finally said in response to K'nera's statement. "The same usually happened to me, just in reverse," he added with a chuckle.

"Someone looking in from the outside just might say that the two of us should have traded places," K'nera joined Alexander's laughter and raised her nutrition as if she was giving a toast. "To kindred spirits."

Alexander mimicked her move and continued to eat on his shared meal. "I have a question, the Captain, you seem to know him pretty well. In fact, he seems very IRRITATED with you frequently."

"I was raised by his brother so I guess you could call him my uncle. I have a lot of practice at getting under his skin. In fact, it's my favorite past time." K'nera gave a wide grin as she pictured some of the things that she had done over the years to M'jaK. "But don't let that mask of irritation fool you. He likes having me around; most of the time."

Alexander shook his head as he saw a gleam in K'nera's eyes that he was sure hid more stories of her tormenting her uncle than he could stab with a D'k tahg. "I'll bet that he'd deny such a statement, no doubt."

"Of course." K'nera laughed out loud at the statement.

"So, how DID a Betazoid end up living on the home world raised by Klingons?"

K'nera took a bite of her bar, chewed and swallowed before answering simply, "My father had known Lor'vah of the House of K'maj'ik for years before my birth. They were an unlikely set of friends and when I was born Lor'vah was named as my Godfather. When I was three Earth years old my parents' were travelling a bit too close to the Neutral Zone and were attacked. By the time any aid was sent to help the passenger freighter that they were on it was too late. Lor'vah went to Betazed and claimed his right to care for me out of honor to my parents and that was that. I came to the Empire and never went back."

"Have you ever thought about it? To see what you've missed?"

"Not really," K'nera shook her head. "Everything that I've ever needed has been in the Empire; everyone that I know and care about are there. My parents' families never tried to see me after I left Betazed so I figured that it's their loss."

"Oh," Alexander had figured that his own desire to see the life on the other side of the quadrant after not growing up among his own kind was normal but here was another in a similar situation yet didn't seem to hold any curiosity about doing so at all.

K'nera shifted a bit to get a little more comfortable in facing Alexander as she stretched her legs toward the other side of the narrow tunnel. Knowing that he'd been having a rough go at blending in with the other Klingons on board her next question seemed like an obvious one to ask. "When you joined the Klingon Defense Forces, why did you decide to go by your human name? If you'd gone by your Klingon name you very likely could have avoided some of the problems that you've had since transferring to the_ Ya'Vang_."

Alexander blinked at the question; he hadn't expected that particular question. "When I think of myself, I just don't imagine myself as T'knehzoR. I can barely even say it. My mother named me Alexander and I've always gone by it. Though I suppose you have a point. If I was known as T'knehzoR instead of Alexander Rozhenko the son of Worf, life would probably be easier. Especially now that I'm a member of the House of Martok. The General is well respected around the Empire. Despite all that my father had done over the years, he still hasn't been given that level of respect." Alexander subconsciously clenched his jaw at the indignation that his father has endured over the years all for the good of the Empire. He then forced himself to relax a bit and shrugged. "Besides, I like to think that the best parts of both myself and my father came from the Rozhenkos. By using their name I honor them for all they have done for both of us. My father has never used their surname but I believe that it is important to do so. Does that sound strange?"

"Not at all. In fact, I can't think of a better reason to use a name. I'm sure that your grandparents are both very proud of you." K'nera then considered her next question. "So which did you prefer? Living on Earth or on a Federation Starship?"

Pursing his lips he thought his answer out before answering. "Living on the _Enterprise_ was harder in a lot of ways. I stayed in trouble with my father often; especially when I first moved there. He wanted me to live as a Klingon but I had no desire to learn the ways of a warrior. Towards the end it became clear that I was nothing but a disappointment to him. Shortly after I refused to perform the Rites of Ascension when I was ten Klingon years of age my father returned me to live with his parents in Minsk."

"Minsk?"

"An area within Russia on Earth. The winters are cold, which I didn't care for, but there I didn't have to-" Alexander stopped himself.

"Have to what?"

"I didn't have to see the shame in my father's eyes when I was there. My grandparents actually seemed sort of relieved that I had chosen the path that I had at the time when I went to live with them."

K'nera began to feel sorry that she had asked. She would have thought that being without many of their own kind around it would have forced the father and son to forge a stronger bond but it seemed that the two were much more estranged than even the rumors had it. "Is that why you joined the Forces then instead of Starfleet? You were hoping that it would…" K'nera stopped herself from finishing the sentence. "I'm sorry. That's none of my business."

Alexander gave a sad shrug. "It was part of it. My grandfather did try to convince me to enlist in Starfleet instead though."

"So why didn't you? I mean, your father is an officer in Starfleet-"

"Exactly," Alexander interrupted. "And he has always been considered an excellent one too. Even back at the Academy. If I had gone into Starfleet I would have been expected to be just like him. And despite wanting to prove myself to him, as well as myself, I am not prepared to live in his shadow."

K'nera watched as Alexander than looked down as if staring at what remained of the small nutrition bar. She could feel the boil of emotions just below the surface radiating from Alexander; emotions that she could tell he was trying to tightly reign in. Taking in a breath she finished the last of her meal and folded the wrapper into her belt's pouch that she had first removed it from.

"I think it's time we got back to work. We still have one more system to bring back up on-line when we get finished here."

Alexander nodded and finished as well; grateful that K'nera had ended their conversation. Speaking of his childhood had allowed his feelings of abandonment to resurface. They were feelings that he had told himself that he would let go of now that he and his father were trying to reconcile. Still, the wounds had cut deeper than any Bat'leth could. They ran straight to the heart.


	4. IV

Alexander stared at his personal log while trying to decide just what he should include in it. Today was the forty-second day of Maktag and the _Ya'Vang_ was scheduled to make a stop at DS9 before returning further into the Alpha Quadrant after their successful mission behind enemy lines. They would be docking at the station first thing in the morning for only twenty-six hours then would be joining the Federation's tenth fleet near the Cyndriel system.

Alexander didn't know if he was looking forward to seeing his father or not. He supposed that he should be looking forward to it considering that this will be the first time since the wedding between Worf and Jadzia that Alexander would be returning to the station. Alexander had felt proud to be asked to be a part of their wedding and had been even more flattered knowing that they had changed their plans just for him. Jadzia had wanted to ensure that he would be able to attend. It had been her way of trying to help forge a new relationship between father and son and with the war, she had pointed out, one never knows just when you might be able to see one another.

Alexander felt his lip curl in a grin as he remembered the four nights preceding the wedding within the holosuite. There he had felt like his father's son. The fact that Worf'd had to explain the ritual to the three humans present had helped ease the tension of having to do the same for him as well and while he wouldn't have considered the trials that had taken place in there fun, Alexander had to admit that he had enjoyed just being able to spend the time with his father without expecting a chastisement.

Sighing, Alexander leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over the small crystal that contained his own holosuite program. It had been inspired by one that he'd visited with father years ago. Though this one would be more versatile in its story-line and hopefully there won't be any guest appearances of Commander Data's likeness this time. He'd told his father of it in his message to tell him of his arrival to the space station but his expression in regards to it had been unreadable through subspace. Alexander hoped that the two could spend one hour within the program without ending up in a fight; for that perhaps Alexander should invite Jadzia along. With what is it; seven life-times? After all of that time Dax seemed know just when to step up to keep a situation from escalating between the two. That much had been obvious from the short time that he'd spent with his new stepmother.

Giving up on the daily log's entry, Alexander figured that he'd just leave it blank and decided to head to the Training Room to burn off the underlying frustration and tension that seemed to always accompany any thoughts of his father. He had worked on the bridge earlier in the day so his evening was free. Now that the ship was no longer behind enemy-lines he felt as if he could relax more than he had in more than a month. Still, just the atmosphere in the ship itself was enough to make him feel as if he was behind the lines of a completely different sort of war.

Inwardly, Alexander wondered if he should speak with the General once he reached Deep Space Nine about the growing tensions within the ranks. Surely he must know of the general consensus among the Klingon people in regards to the rampant isolationist mentality; after all, his own wife was among those that held such regards to outsiders not too long ago. The wedding between Worf and Jadzia nearly hadn't taken place due to Sirella's dislike of alien cultures. Knowing how she had reacted to Jadzia, Alexander wondered how the woman had taken his own entrance into her House. She had not wanted to pollute the blood-lines of a great family yet he came with human blood already running through his veins.

Alexander shook his head to clear the thoughts. One good thing that he could say about the xenophobic hostilities that lay just below the surface of the crew, it had forced him to take his training in the ways of a warrior that much more serious. After all, within the Klingon culture, outside enemies are not the only causes of a man to not return home from battle. It was clear that just as many were likely to face danger from within their own ranks as they did from any outside opponent.

Alexander's footsteps echoed on the metal plates beneath him as he moved through the dimly lit corridor toward the Training Room. He had long since learned to tune out the metallic clang that always accompanied his movements about the ship but when the sound became louder than it should have it grabbed his attention. Without turning around, Alexander glanced about him to see if he could see any evidence of another warrior in front of him. Seeing no one, Alexander's brows furled. He slowed his steps slightly; not much, just enough to separate their sound from those that were coming from behind him. Suddenly, he knew what prey must feel like once they knew that they were being stalked by a predator. Someone was behind him and that individual didn't want Alexander to know it. Carefully, Alexander continued his progress toward the Training Room while listening to the echoes that came from behind him. With each step he could tell that they were getting closer to him. Allowing his hand to creep down toward his D'k tahg, he let his hand rest on it as he waited for the sounds to come even closer.

Without warning, Alexander turned to face his shadow to find R'jnol behind him with his hand raised and poised to bring his own knife down upon the younger Klingon. Alexander raised both of his own hands to catch the descending forearm to prevent the blade from finding its mark. The two began to wrestle for the weapon and Alexander soon found himself pressed up against the walls of the corridor as he strained against the older man. Despite all of his training with Ch'Targh and his other comrades, he feared that he was not prepared for this type of assault. Unlike their first meeting in the Training Room, this time R'jnol didn't just want to scare him or teach him a lesson. The man wanted to actually kill him. What was worse, he needed both of his hands to hold back R'jnol's D'k tagh so he couldn't even draw his own weapon.

When Alexander felt the tip of the cold blade against him, Alexander became desperate to win this battle for his life. It was then that he remembered his first conversation with K'nera and her telling him of R'jnol's weakness. Alexander raised his left foot and brought it hard against R'jnol's knee. In turn, R'jnol flinched and pulled back just slightly. But it had been enough. Alexander raised his fist and connected with the more powerful Klingon's nose and sent him back further. Before R'jnol could react, Alexander had his own weapon in hand and stood ready to face him as he returned to attack Alexander once more with even more hatred than he'd had before.

Alexander ducked the man's blade as he swung it wildly and moved back behind him and waited for him to turn to face him once more. When R'jnol did so, he charged Alexander in hopes to pin him up against the wall of the corridor. Alexander may have been smaller and weaker but he knew that he was more agile than the other Klingon and waited until the last second before moving aside. R'jnol collided with the wall and turned in frustration back toward his surprisingly elusive prey. R'jnol then launched himself against the younger man with his blade drawn. Alexander raised one hand to capture the other man's wrist as the two fell backwards to the deck plating. As the two landed, Alexander saw a look of surprise fill R'jnol's eyes as he looked down between them. While Alexander had raised one hand to block R'jnol's blade his other hand with his own weapon had remained lower. It had caught R'jnol right between the ribs and sank into his lung. It had been lodged in deeply by his own momentum.

Alexander rolled the man off of him and stood up as his adversary drew in his last breath. R'jnol was the first Klingon that he'd ever killed. Killing him and the Jem'Hadar felt differently. He wasn't sure why though since both had been trying to kill him. Still, Alexander took no pleasure in his success in this battle.

"You were lucky," a voice sounded from the end of the corridor. Alexander turned to find the First Officer scowling down at the image of the lifeless corpse. "There were several opportunities to kill him before you finally did and yet you did not seize them."

"Sir, about R'jnol, I'm sorry but-"

"Do not apologize!" The First Officer bellowed as he shook his head. "You are a Klingon on board a Klingon Warship; not on a Federation Starship. You had every right to kill him several times over. He had no honor. Take a lesson from this, Young Alexander. You tried to offer mercy to your adversary by not killing him the first chance you had and it nearly got you killed in return. In battle, there is no room for mercy."

"Yes, sir." Alexander watched as the First Officer walked over to R'jnol's body and pull Alexander's weapon from his chest and wiped the blood off on his pant leg. The Officer then reversed it to return it back to Alexander. Alexander took the D'k tahg and returned it to its sheath.

"Now, call for a crew to remove this petaQ from the corridor." The First Officer then placed a hand on Alexander's shoulder, "And do so with pride. Your adversaries will now think twice before attempting to follow R'jnol's lead."

Alexander nodded and watched as the officer left. _That was it?_ He had just killed another member of the crew and that was all that the man had to say? Alexander was stunned at the manner that the death of such a prominent member of the crew was being taken. Taking in a deep breath, Alexander set about to informing the appropriate personnel of the need to remove R'jnol's body. He just wasn't sure he will ever be able to get used to this aspect of Klingon culture.

By the time that Alexander had made it to the Mess Deck for his evening meal word of R'jnol's death had spread throughout the ship. Ch'Targh and his other friends all congratulated Alexander on the outcome of the skirmish in the corridor. Others in the room all eyed Alexander uncertain of how to react to the news that he, of all people, had been the one to ultimately bring down R'jnol. Alexander fought the urge to show just how uncomfortable he was by the knowledge that only hours ago he had killed a man; a comrade. Still, he knew that his closest friends had to at least suspect the reason for his awkwardness during the meal.

Alexander offered no false bravado for his actions and merely allowed his friends to do the boasting for him. Not that he was sure that there was much to boast about. He had not bested R'jnol in some glorious battle. The First Officer had been right, he'd gotten lucky. Nothing more. The only thing that he could celebrate was that he had survived to live another day. He would survive to see one more birthday.

* * *

The next morning, Alexander watched as Deep Space Nine came into view. He felt a mixture of both excitement and hesitation knowing that he was about to see his father again and spend the next twenty-six hours in the same location as him. When the _Ya'Vang_ completed its docking Alexander headed toward the hatch that would lead him to the station. As he stepped through the hatch Alexander glanced around looking for his father. He'd assumed that he would be here to meet him but the older Klingon was nowhere to be seen. Alexander did, however, see Jadzia waiting for him with a big smile which he returned readily.

"Alexander! Welcome back," Jadzia stepped forward to hug her stepson. "It's good to see you. I can't believe how much you've changed in just a couple of months!"

Jadzia knew that Alexander was in his final year of Klingon maturation but she hadn't been prepared to see such a difference in the young man. In the months that he had been gone Alexander had shot up several centimeters in height and his shoulders had begun to broaden. If it hadn't been for two physical characteristics, Alexander's lack of facial hair that still separated him from the rest of the Klingons on board and his wearing his hair tied back just like Worf, Jadzia might not have been able to recognize him at all.

"It's good to see you too," Alexander answered as he glanced around while looking for his father. "Is my father up in Ops? I sort of thought that he'd be here already."

"Oh, about that, General Martok left out last night on a mission and your father volunteered to go with him." Jadzia slipped an arm through Alexander's and turned him to head toward the promenade. "But your father said to give you his best."

Alexander felt his heart drop slightly but he wasn't sure why he had expected his father to be here in the first place. "I understand."

"But," Jadzia raised her other hand and revealed a message crystal in her hand, "I do have some transmissions from Earth for you. Your grandparents sent them."

"Thanks. I know that they've never felt comfortable with sending messages through the Empire. They probably figured that my father would still be able to get them to me by sending them here. I hope it wasn't a problem."

"Nah, I can understand their discomfort to a point." Jadzia released the message crystal as Alexander took it from her to put into a pouch on his belt. "Now, tell me all about your latest mission behind the Dominion Lines."

"Well-" Alexander started only to be interrupted but a comm message for Jadzia.

_"Commander Dax, we need you in Ops."_

"I'm sorry," Jadzia gave Alexander an apologetic look before answering the comm, "I'm on my way." She then added to Alexander, "We'll get together later. I promise."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be alright."

Alexander watched as Jadzia headed off toward Ops then continued his way to the bustling hub of the station. All around him people of dozens of different races milled about; all oblivious to the fact that Alexander was more hurt by his father's absence than he cared to admit. He had planned to spend some time with his father yet his father was not here. As much as he'd liked to think that the mission was just convenient in its timing, he suspected that the mission had actually been devised by his father to keep him busy. Alexander remembered back on the _Enterprise_ how he had felt as if his father would go out of his way to look for extra work. All in an effort to avoid spending time with his son. Today was just one more instance to support that theory.

Alexander made his way to the bar and took an empty stool and waited for the Ferengi behind the bar to take his order. After he did Quark gave Alexander an odd look as he handed him his drink.

"I think I remember you. You're Worf's son, right? The one with the human name."

Alexander inwardly groaned since he knew that was likely how most people remembered. He wasn't Alexander. He was Worf's son. The one that was more Human than Klingon. "That's right."

"Hey kid, don't take this the wrong way or nothing but weren't you more scrawny the last time you were in here?" Quark caught Alexander's sudden jerk of his head at the description and raised his hands up as if in defense. The last thing he needed was for Worf to hear that he'd offended his only son. If that happened Quark was likely to have the massive Klingon down in his bar and making trouble for him. Something that he didn't need. "Not that you were really scrawny or anything it's just that you look a bit different now is all."

Alexander shrugged as he accepted his blood wine. He wasn't about to go into trying to explain Klingon growth patterns to someone that really wouldn't have cared about them anyway. Once Quark moved on to the next customer Alexander stared at his glass and couldn't help but wonder just what his grandparents had been doing back on Earth lately. He was sure that back in Minsk they were likely sound asleep since it was the middle of the night in the town where they lived. He made a mental note to be sure to watch their transmissions and see to sending a message back just as soon as he knew that it was daybreak there. Though Alexander knew that doing so would only make him feel a bit homesick.

Alexander knew that, while they always tried to hide it from him, both of his grandparents worried about him now that he was serving the Empire. More so, perhaps, than they had ever been concerned about his father. Whereas Worf served in Starfleet, Alexander was serving on board a Klingon Warship. They knew what to expect from service to the Federation but the Empire was still a mystery to many that had no firsthand dealings with them. Alexander knew that his infrequent communiqués with Sergey and Helena both eased their worry for him and increased it. They were always glad to hear from him and see that he was doing well but seeing him on board a Klingon ship was never easy for them. It reminded them of the danger that he was in by simply being enlisted in the Klingon Defense Forces. Alexander figured that while he was on the station he could at least alleviate some of their concerns by providing a different background for their conversation.

"Such a serious expression," Alexander turned to find K'nera walking up behind him with two plates in her hands. "Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, not all. What's that?" Alexander motioned to the plates. On each of them appeared to be a sliver of cake.

"QoSlIj DatIvjaj!" K'nera placed one of the plates in front of Alexander and sat down on the stool next to Alexander.

Alexander's brows lowered on his face as he gave the Betazoid a questioning look. "How did you know it was my birthday?"

"Um, let's see…" K'nera gave a false look of concentration and smiled. "I'm a mind reader, maybe?"

"I thought I heard the others on the ship say that you'd never developed your skills. Not living among others from Betazed and all. I was told that you were just empathic."

K'nera shrugged as she lifted her fork to take a bite of the cake. "That's the story that got out since Klingons in general aren't comfortable with telepathy. M'jaK and DedaJ are the only ones on board that know the truth."

"So why tell me?"

"Because you don't seem like someone that would plunge a D'k tahg in my chest after knowing the truth. You don't come off as someone that would really have a problem with telepaths," K'nera smiled. "But I should apologize for intruding. I usually try not to but you seemed so down; I thought that it might have had something to do with yesterday. When I realized that it didn't I figured that I'd come over and see if I could do anything. No one should be alone on their birthday. Especially on an important one like this one."

"It's just another day," Alexander picked up his own fork and took a bite of the cake that K'nera had gotten from the food replicator. When he tasted the cake he knew just how far into his thoughts K'nera had ventured. "Black Russian Cake?"

"It's probably not as good as the way that your grandmother makes it but you were wishing for a piece of it so…" K'nera waited to see Alexander's reaction to her mental snooping but he seemed to accept it without too many qualms much to her relief. "Anyway, don't worry about me spying on you anymore. I just couldn't help it after catching a few stray thoughts."

"Don't worry about it, really," Alexander smiled and shook his head. "And you're right; I don't have a problem as a general rule with telepaths. In fact, back on the _Enterprise_, there were several on board and the counselor was empathic."

"I see. That's good to know," K'nera said relieved. "So, any plans for your birthday?"

"Nah, I'd planned to go the holosuite with my father but since he isn't here-"

"Since he isn't here you'll just have to go without him. There is no reason to not have a little fun before you have to leave the station." K'nera interrupted. "What kind of program did you have in mind?"

"It's just one that came up with based on an old holonovel that my father and I used to visit on the _Enterprise_. It takes place in the Ancient West of Earth."

"Ancient West?"

Alexander gave a crooked grin as he explained his fascination with the time period from Earth's history with quite a bit of enthusiasm. It was a time that had always held his imagination. Eventually Alexander even told K'nera of his first visit to the Ancient West in the holodeck with his father and how it had been complicated by Commander Data running a diagnostic at the same time the two Klingons were inside the program. The safeties were turned off and both Alexander and his father had actually faced a bit of danger before they could leave the deck.

Alexander had been certain that after that fiasco his father wouldn't want to go back to the holodeck with him. He had, however, been able to convince his father to return a couple more times. That was why he had written the program that he'd brought with him to the station. Alexander had hoped to try to recapture those brief moments from his childhood where the two of them had actually gotten along. Unfortunately, after telling Worf of the program and then learning that he volunteered for a mission to be away from the station on the very day that Alexander was to be present, he realized that his father must not look back on those times quite as fondly as he did.

"Well," K'nera eyed Alexander as she saw that his look of excitement as he explained the time period turned to one of disappointment because his father was not on the station. "Is there any reason why you can't still use the program? After hearing all of that, I'll admit that I'm a bit curious about it now."

"You're kidding," Alexander cocked his head as he tried to judge if K'nera was just trying to make him feel better.

"Nope, come on. We'll go see if one of the holosuites are free." K'nera grinned and waved Quark over to ask about buying some time in the recreational rooms. "Consider it a birthday present. Just don't expect me to know what in the worlds I'm supposed to be doing in that kind of place."

Alexander chuckled, "Deal. We can turn the characters off in the program and just explore the town."


	5. V

K'nera crossed her arms and glared at Alexander as he tried to keep himself from laughing. "You programmed that animal to throw me, didn't you?"

"I didn't; I promise." Snickering slightly, Alexander slid off of his horse and walked over to help K'nera up from where she sat in the middle of the dusty street that he'd created within the holosuite program. "But I did create this program with my father in mind. If I had made them too gentle he would have balked and likely would have taken to reprogramming the whole holonovel before agreeing to come back in here with me."

K'nera accepted Alexander's hand stood up while shaking her head. "I was once thrown by a bregit on Zlireta Theta and I think I still preferred riding on one of them over a... a horse."

"It just takes some getting used to," Alexander assured K'nera while holding back a cheeky comment on the tip of his tongue. "Unfortunately, I think our time is up in the holosuite. Quark will be ready to run us out of here soon if we don't go ahead and leave now."

"That's fine with me. I don't think I'm suited to the Ancient West after all." K'nera brushed the dust from her uniform as she followed Alexander toward the exit. "I prefer living in a time period where transportation isn't so…primitive."

"That doesn't sound like someone who's lived among Klingons for most of their lives."

"Maybe not. But it's the truth. Give me a shuttle or a runabout any day."

K'nera and Alexander stepped out of the suite and began to descend the winding staircase to the lower level of Quark's bar. As they approached the bar to get something to drink Alexander noticed that Jadzia had done as she had promised and returned to spend some time with Alexander after she had completed her duties in Ops. K'nera eyed the Trill before telling Alexander that she would see him later. She would go find DedaJ while he spoke with Jadzia.

"Is something wrong?"

"I just don't do mothers is all," K'nera said as she started to turn away. "Or in this case, stepmothers."

Alexander raised a brow as the blond left the bar then headed over to Jadzia. As he got closer to her, he noticed that she had a set and determined look on her face.

"Alexander! Why didn't you tell me that it was your birthday?" Jadzia gave the young Klingon a firm but light shove on his shoulder as he came within arm's reach. "You were planning to leave here in the morning without ever mentioning it, weren't you?"

Alexander shrugged and gave a half-smile. "It wasn't important."

"None-sense. No wonder you looked so heart-broken when your father didn't greet you this morning."

"I don't think that I'd say that I was heart-broken, exactly, Jadzia." Alexander corrected his stepmother. "But just out of curiosity, how did you find out?"

"Your grandparents. They've contacted the station again to wish you a Happy Birthday. They are waiting on an open channel to speak with you now." Jadzia slipped her arm through Alexander's and steered him toward the habitat ring of the station. "You can speak to them from the comm station in your father and my quarters. I've already had a nice long chat with them and promised that I plan to visit them with Worf just as soon as the war with the Dominion is over."

"I'm sure they'll like that." Alexander knew that his grandparents had regretted not being able to attend Jadzia and Worf's wedding due to the quick nature of the change in wedding plans when it was decided to get married on the station. In addition, it had been deemed unsafe for the Rozhenkos to travel so far within the front-lines of the war with the Dominion. He had done his best to tell them all that he could about their new daughter-in-law since he had no doubt that his father had failed to fill them in on all that they would have wanted to know.

"Just don't tell your father. Not yet anyway," Jadzia gave a grin as she continued to walk with Alexander. "You let me handle him."

"Somehow, I think that you're the only one who could have a prayer at _HANDLING_ him." Alexander laughed as he spoke truthfully. "By all means, you deal with him." He then continued to the comm station to speak with his grandparents before spending the rest of the day on DS9 telling Dax stories from behind enemy-lines and hearing of the latest goings on about the space station. Alexander found the Trill exceptionally easy to talk to and the two even sparred in the holosuite so that Alexander could show his stepmother just what all he'd learned from Ch'Targh and his training sessions with the other Klingon.

The next morning Jadzia bade Alexander good-bye and promised to give Worf a good _talking to _the moment that she saw him in regards to not staying on board the station knowing that Alexander would be arriving so soon. Alexander had no doubt that she could probably cause even his father to flinch under the scorn of her words when riled. He made a mental note to never tangle with Jadzia. If his father didn't dare to upset her then he knew he shouldn't.

* * *

Once the_ Ya'Vang_ disembarked from the space station it made its way to join the Federation's tenth fleet near the Cyndriel system. After their most recent mission to locate the Dominion shipyard in orbit around Monac Four much of the_ Ya'Vang_'s crew were disappointed with their more sedate assignment attached to the Federation's Tenth Fleet. K'nera was not among those that found the patrol duty to be boring, however.

After spending days away from the front-lines, K'nera sat in her quarters doing her best to meditate before the beginning of her shift. She knew that starting her day without the moment of peace is always unwise; even if she had been forced to on occasion. Concentrating on the methods that she learned from the Klingon Psionics Monks on Celyn Four, K'nera did her best to shunt her telepathic abilities aside to avoid catching every stray thought of the dozens of men and women on board the warship.

Klingons produce very few full-fledged telepaths. In ancient days of the Empire's infancy, Klingon warlords fiercely coveted the ability to read an enemy's mind. At the same time they despise mind-reading as a cowardly act. Those who attained such power found that being surrounded by the violence of Klingon minds to be extremely overwhelming. Often, the few Klingon mutants that have developed their psionic abilities found that prolonged exposure often leads to neural degradation, violent hallucinations and death; mind-readers tended to live short and miserable lives within the Empire. In the past, some Klingon lords forced telepaths into near slavery. Those who escaped were typically hunted down and lynched. After centuries of trying to harness the telepathic abilities of those that had the misfortune of displaying them, the Empire finally determined that doing so was more trouble than it was worth. Now the few Klingons that displayed telepathic or empathic abilities seemed to prefer to live in isolation away from the rest of society; both to avoid the scorn that modern Klingon culture holds for such individuals and to keep their minds free of the clutter that comes from just existing alongside the warrior race.

When K'nera's own Betazoid abilities became evident shortly after being taken in by Lor'vah she had been taken there to study under the monks. To this day, K'nera drew on the things that she learned on Celyn Four and would frequently go there for solace when living day to day among Klingons became too taxing on her telepathic, as well as empathic, side.

K'nera stared into the candle that she had set on the small table in her quarters while trying to block out the endless conversations that were going on around the ship. As of late, controlling her abilities had become more challenging and as a result it took longer in the mornings to calm her own thoughts. Twice this week alone she had nearly been late for the start of her duty rotation due to her inability to prepare herself for the day in a timely manner. Today she had gotten up extra early to give herself more time but it seemed to have been to no avail. The more she sought calm the more it eluded her.

When her alarm went off to tell her that she had to leave now so she would not be late for her shift in engineering she groaned loudly in the empty quarters and blew the candle out. She then stood from her seated position on the floor and headed toward the door. _Today is going to be a bad day, _K'nera told herself as she made her way to her post.

Once in the Engine Room, K'nera took her assignment pad from her superior and went straight to work on the day's duties. She did everything that she could to tune out everyone on board as she worked and she must have succeeded since it was hours later when she looked up to realize that someone was standing over her and talking.

"K'nera? Did you hear me?" Alexander had come looking for her when she had failed to show for the evening meal. K'nera looked down at her chronometer and was surprised that she had remained in the department all day yet had really accomplished nothing productive.

"I'm sorry. I was kind of out of it. What were you saying?"

"I just came to check to see if anything was wrong. No one had seen you since early this morning and with the tensions on board and all…" Alexander fidgeted a bit as he waited for K'nera to stand. When K'nera failed to show for any of the meals on the Mess Deck he had been concerned that she may have had a run in with the remaining members of R'jnol's group on the _Ya'Vang_. After his own run in, and ultimate unlikely victory against the man, Alexander had been given a level of new-found respect among many on the ship. K'nera, however, was still seen as more of an outsider since she didn't have a drop of Klingon blood running through her veins. With all of the sit and waiting that the crew had done since joining the Federation Fleet, Alexander knew that many were looking for an outlet for their penned up energy. He had feared that she had wound up being that outlet.

"I'm fine, really," K'nera gathered up her tools and gave Alexander a smile in response to his worry for her. "Besides, if someone had really meant to harm me I would have known-"

"Would you? I've been here for five minutes before you realized it," Alexander gave K'nera a skeptical look. He knew that five minutes were more than enough time to hurt or kill an individual; particularly one that was not paying attention to their surroundings and was caught unaware. Knowing that gave Alexander pause to avoid scolding his friend much the same way he could imagine that his father would have done to him in a similar situation.

Spoken or not, K'nera heard those words loud and clear and knew that he was right. She'd been so concerned with calming the voices around her and blocking them out that she had gone too far. She had lost that balance that she needed while on board the ship. The thing was, she wasn't sure what she could really do about it for now. She couldn't just up and ask for leave in the middle of a war but every day that she spent surrounded by the untamed thoughts of her Klingon comrades was one more day closer to feeling completely overwhelmed. K'nera needed to find a balance if she was to remain on board. She just wasn't sure how she could go about finding that balance in a way that she hadn't already tried.

* * *

Days later, K'nera was in the secondary transporter room doing a routine maintenance when she suddenly felt a great sense of dread. It was too large to pin-point just where it was coming from. She knew that the Fleet was scheduled to perform some practice battle exercises today to help break up the monotony of patrol duty. Still, that didn't account for the dread that she sensed in the system. K'nera was about to contact her uncle to learn what was going on when the Alert Status One rang out.

On the bridge, Jem'Hadar ships had come out of nowhere to attack the Cyndriel system; including the other Klingon ships and those of the Federation. The Fleet had been caught completely unaware by the Dominion. There were no where near enough ships to defend Betazed and M'jaK knew it. Nor was the planet armed well enough to aid in its own defense. M'jaK doubted that the people of Betazed had upgraded the planetary defense systems since joining the Federation.

All around him his crew performed as they had been trained despite the state of confusion that the Starfleet ships seemed to be in. M'jaK ordered his crew to prepare to engage the enemy even as he watched many of the other ships in the sector take heavy casualties through the view screen. As the _Ya'Vang_ plunged further into battle many of the ships in the rest of the fleet began to reluctantly pull back when it was clear that they could no longer stay in the fight.

"Captain! We are being hailed by Admiral Reliz's ship," Ch'Targh shouted from his station.

Growling, M'jak suspected that the man was calling to order a retreat. A suspicion that seemed to be confirmed just by looking at him as his image was put up on the screen.

"Admiral! Why are your ships breaking away?! They are cowards!"

_"Captain, this is a fight that we cannot hope to win. I've ordered each ship to try to take on a compliment of survivors from the planet before leaving the system. I want your ship to do the same."_

"There is no honor for a warrior that runs from a fight simply because he is outnumbered, Admiral!"

Through the comm system, Admiral Reliz scowled at the Klingon captain and his crew._ "Nor is there honor in leaving civilians behind to the Dominion. You were instructed to follow my orders, Captain. If you don't like them then you can lodge a formal complaint later if we can get out of here. For now, you are to do as I say. Reliz out!"_

M'jaK howled at the indignation of being ordered to retreat but he was no fool. He knew that the fleet was outnumbered ten to one with the fleet growing smaller by the minute. Through gritted teeth, M'jaK ordered to be patched through to the transporter rooms.

"This is your Captain speaking. We have been ordered to take on civilians before making a _retreat_." The word retreat left a bitter taste in M'jaK's mouth but he forced himself to continue. "We will be dropping our shields for three seconds. Not a moment longer. Prepare to lock onto any signal that you can get from the planet below and energize on my mark…NOW!"

The ship's shields were lowered and Alexander swore that those three seconds were the longest in his life. Knowing that they were now totally exposed in the middle of a fight with the Jem'Hadar. He examined his station and saw that their vulnerability had been detected as three ships broke away from the main formation and were heading their way.

"Captain, enemy ships approaching bearing zero two point five!"

"Shields up!"

Meanwhile in the secondary Transporter Room, K'nera had just finished beaming aboard more than a dozen Betazoids. To say that they were surprised to see one of their own kind operating the transporter on a Klingon ship was a bit of an understatement. Nearly the moment that the energy beam had cleared each had begun to ask questions to which K'nera had no answers. What had made it worse, however, was that nearly all of the questions had been shot her way telepathically. A new experience for her since even when she was among the few Klingon telepaths no one had ever intentionally tried to speak with her on that level. Add that to the fact that the refugees were using Federation Standard instead of the Klingon language increased her stress level.

"Everyone PLEASE! I do not have any answers for you right now. We are still in the middle of a fight but as soon as we break away I'll be sure to try to find out just what all is going on!" K'nera blurted out after digging around in her memory for the correct words.

From among the crowd stepped forth a woman with an exotic looking wig that matched her rather gaudy outfit and she walked right up to K'nera. K'nera could sense her curiosity of her but she hoped that she would hold any questions about how a Betazoid had ended up on the ship for later. This was certainly not the time for such questions.

* * *

The ship rocked as the Jem'Hadar began to attack the Klingon ship as it pulled up from the orbit around the planet that it had sunk into while beaming aboard the civilians. Outside, the enemy ships were finding fresh prey scarce as now they outnumbered the Tenth Fleet twenty to one. Nearly every ship that remained was severely crippled. The _Ya'Vang_ included. As the shields failed the captain ordered for the cloaking device to be activated as it began to limp toward the coordinates that they needed to reach before jumping to warp.

After months of victories behind enemy lines defeat today was very humiliating for the crew of the warship. When the _Ya'Vang_ broke away from the fighting the captain and his crew could feel the shame of their actions very palatable in the air. M'jaK was not any happier with their orders to fall back than any of the rest of his crew. He was sure to alert his superiors of his opinions of having to take instructions from such cowards but for now he was honor bound to follow those retched orders.

M'jaK watched as the rest of the fleet made a quick departure from the now Dominion controlled planet that would put them in position to invade Vulcan, Andor, Tellar and Alpha Centauri before giving the order to follow suit. Disgusted, M'jaK turned toward his ready room only to be stopped by Ch'Targh as he informed the captain that K'nera was calling up from the Secondary Transporter Room and was requesting to speak with him.

"What?" M'jaK asked gruffly as he heard the bustling background of the Transporter Room.

_"Captain, we have a-"_

K'nera was interrupted as another woman was heard speaking over the young woman, _"I am the daughter of the Fifth House of Betazed, the Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, and the Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed. I demand to know what has happened to my son and valet."_

Alexander's head jerked up as he recognized that voice with a smile. The captain told K'nera to take each of the refugees to the VIP quarters that were aboard for visiting dignitaries. He suspected that it was mainly to keep them all in one place and out of his hair. The quarters were lush by Klingon standards with several movable chairs and tables located in the middle of the room but Alexander knew that they were significantly less so by Betazoid standards. As the comm link to the Transporter Room was closed Alexander turned from his station and addressed the captain.

"Sir, request permission to assist with the refugees. I think that I might be of some assistance."

"How so?"

Alexander glanced around the bridge briefly before responding, "I have had personal dealings with the Ambassador from Betazed; the woman that you just heard." Captain M'jaK raised a brow at Alexander's comment which encouraged him to explain, "Her daughter was designated as my Soh-chim should anything ever happen to my father while I was growing up."

_Soh-chim?_ M'jaK couldn't believe his ears. It was a wonder that his Bekk had any knowledge of the ways of his heritage at all. Not only had his father not bothered to raise the boy in ways of the Klingon Warrior (preferring to surround his son by HUMAN culture) but he had even seen to it that Alexander would remain ignorant of all things Klingon if he was to die before the younger Klingon reached the age of maturity. What was more, he had chosen one from a PACIFIST race to fill the role of guardian for a boy whose warrior's blood had already been diluted.

Shaking his head, knowing that such thoughts could wait until later, M'jaK granted his permission to leave the bridge. "Go, and see to it that they do not interfere with the ship's function. We have been ordered to star-base 1182 with them. Once there they will no longer be my problem."

"Yes Sir," Alexander jumped up from his station and left the bridge to make his way to greet the eccentric woman that he'd not seen in years. Alexander only wished that such a reunion could have been under better circumstances.


	6. VI

Lwaxana stood with her hands on her hips and stared down the odd woman that, by all appearances and senses, was Betazoid yet dressed as a Klingon. Curiosity begged to be satisfied about just who she was and how she had come to be on this ship but first she wanted to know why SHE herself had been beamed aboard without her son or her valet, Mr. Holm. One good thing about her contact on the ship being another Betazoid was that she didn't have to confine her questions to a more primitive form of communication like verbally speaking. Lwaxana took full advantage of that and asked for, no demanded, answers for each of her questions.

K'nera closed her eyes as she tried to block the psionic overload that the refugees seem to be determined to be the cause of. For days she had been fighting the residual thought patterns of the crew which had already taxed her reserves. Now K'nera was faced with dozens of telepaths that were intentionally flooding her neural synaptic pathways with their attempts to learn any and all that she knew of what their situation was as well as that of their friends and families. She had never been trained to handle so many intentional violations into her own mind.

Not prepared for the strain, she opened her eyes back up and shouted, "ENOUGH!" K'nera's outburst caused the other Betazoids surrounding her to be taken aback and all paused in their questioning briefly as she tried to rein in her breathing and temper. In a way, she wished that she had brought another from the crew with her; if nothing else but to intimidate them with their presence but the rest of the crew had been needed elsewhere during their flight away from the Dominion ships. Even the other engineers from the Transporter Rooms had been quickly reassigned to help in the repairs about the ship just as soon as the refugees had been beamed aboard. So it would seem that she had been nominated to deal with the Betazoids on her own for the moment. "I will do my best to answer any questions that I can one at a time. But I will not do so using telepathy. Nor can I do so before I have had the opportunity to discuss your questions with the Captain."

Lwaxana exchanged glances and thoughts with her fellow refugees before taking the lead in the asking of questions. "Why are we on this ship of all places? We were preparing for a banquet then all of the sudden Dominion ships were attacking the system then we found ourselves here."

"I believe that you have already answered your own question as to why you are here then," K'nera said as calmly as she could. She still felt the woman standing before her trying to prick her mind; even if the others in the room had fallen back a bit. "As I've said, I will not have any other answers until I've reported in."

"Then what are you waiting for? By all means jus-"

"Lwaxana!" The ambassador heard her name being called from across the room by a young Klingon who actually seemed to be glad to see her. The thing was, Lwaxana could not place him or figure out just why he seemed familiar with her.

"Excuse me?" Lwaxana asked incredulously as she turned to face the brash young Klingon that was doing something that she had never seen the sole Klingon Warrior that she was most familiar with ever doing. This Klingon was smiling; quite broadly at that. "Can I help you?"

"You don't recognize me?" Alexander asked as he came to a stop in front of the woman that had always seemed so vibrant and eccentric to him. He saw a confused look cross Lwaxana's face as she tried to place the young man in front of her. The moment that she recognized him though her face lit up and despite her worry for her son and Mr. Holm she allowed a wide smile to break out on her face.

"It can't be! Can this really be my Little Warrior?!"

K'nera was taken aback by the fact that Alexander already seemed to know the elder woman but she had been even more surprised by the nickname that she'd given her friend. Carefully trying to not laugh, she saw the signs of Alexander's embarrassment as he began to blush furiously as Lwaxana reached forward to pull him into a tight hug. Alexander, for his part was just glad that none of the other Klingons on board were around to hear the Betazoid's term of endearment for him.

"My have you grown! The last time I saw you on the _Enterprise_ you were no bigger than a Berillian cat," Lwaxana pulled back from Alexander to get a full look at the young man to judge just how much he truly had grown in the years that they had been separated. She then ran a finger down Alexander's jaw before tapping his chin. "Is that the beginnings of a beard?"

Alexander grinned more broadly under the woman's scrutiny. He had been quite excited when the final symbol of Jak'tahla had begun to show itself. Finally, he wouldn't be so easily identifiable as the youngest of the crew. Not to mention the coming beard would come in handy to hide the gorch that had the nasty habit of popping up on his face lately. Much like a teenager from Earth would have to deal with pimples. Thankfully, though, he didn't seem to have nearly the same kind of problem as Kornan (the only crew member that was really close to his own age among the other Klingons) still had.

"Yes, ma'am-"

"What a shame to hide such a beautiful face behind all of that. Ah well!" Lwaxana breathed out a sigh as she shook her head. "I supposed that it was bound to happen eventually. You growing up, enlisting and-" As if only now realizing that Alexander was on a warship, Lwaxana's eyes grew wide and then she asked quite loudly, "Wait a minute! What are you doing here on a… a... a KLINGON ship of all places? I thought that you wanted more out of life than to just fight like any other Klingon brute!"

Alexander chuckled at Lwaxana's description of typical Klingon life. A couple of years ago, he would have admitted to seeing his own race in much the same light as she did. After joining the Klingon Defense Forces, however, Alexander has learned that there is more than just the fighting to Klingons as he had believed when he was younger. That misguided belief had only been reinforced by his father's insistence that he should become a warrior. While Alexander would acknowledge that the Klingons have always been war-like, they are also very intelligent. They weren't as wild or out-of-control as his mother had told him when he was small, either. Even those that Alexander had come to be wary of since joining the Forces showed that Klingons were more cunning than wild. Klingons believed in living life to the fullest. As a result, they also faced death with that same exuberance. Also, there are different Klingons; not just the warriors that the race was known for but they were actually quite varied. There were artisans, engineers, philosophers, chefs, politicians and even a few doctors (though only a few since most Klingons refused to accept their services).

Still, Alexander could certainly see why the ambassador would find him being here both perplexing and possibly worrisome. He was a long way from the mud baths in Lwaxana Troi's program of the Parallax colony. No, now he was on a warship in the middle of the biggest intergalactic battle of all time. A fight for the safety of the whole Alpha Quadrant itself from the Dominion.

"A lot of things have happened in recent years, Lwaxana." Alexander took Lwaxana's arm in his and began to steer her and the other Betazoids toward the table in the center of the VIP quarters. "With the Dominion, I couldn't exactly stay back on Earth in relative safety with the whole quadrant in the middle of a war. Could I?"

"Ah, yes, that Klingon drive for bloodshed is overpowering, isn't it."

"Not as much as the drive to protect my friends and family. And I get that from both my Klingon AND Human blood." Alexander pulled a chair out for Lwaxana and then motioned for her as well as the other Betazoids to sit down. "Now, I know that you are all concerned with your own friends and family but at the moment the rest of the crew are concerned with getting all of you to safety. We've all been ordered to rendezvous at star-base 1182. Once there you should be able to meet back up with those that were able to escape from the Dominion as well. We'll get together a list of those of you who are here and then exchange the list with the other ships."

"I'll go see if I can get the passenger manifests from the other ships," K'nera spoke up as she began to head to the door. It was clear that Alexander could handle the refugees much better than she could.

Alexander nodded in acknowledgement as K'nera turned to the door. "That's a good idea. It will make it easier once we reach the star-base if each individual already knows which ship their friends and family are on."

K'nera stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her and shook her head. How had he been able to get everyone to just calm down and not bombard HIM with questions as they had done to her? Alexander had merely walked in and with only a minimal about of conversation had the large group all sitting at the tables and making arrangements to reunite with those that they loved once at the star-base. And he had even done so with a smile on his face to boot.

* * *

Jadzia monitored her station in OPS as she glanced over at Worf. He had not left OPS since early this morning when the reports of the attack on the Tenth Fleet had begun to trail in. As of yet, no word on the _Ya'Vang_ had made it to the station and she was sure that Worf was worried for Alexander. Jadzia knew that he was keeping tabs on every single report from the battle and by judging his still tense stance (well more tense than usual) she knew that no word on the _Ya'Vang _had yet to come in. It had been hours now since the first report of the Dominion attack on the Cyndriel System and the not knowing was just about to kill Worf.

Briefly, Jadzia considered trying to contact Martok to see if he'd heard any news on the warship but she discounted that since she had no doubt that if Martok had word he would certainly pass it on as soon as he could. Instead, Jadzia remained at her station despite the fact that both her and Worf's shift had been over an hour ago. The others in OPS seemed to understand the reason for their lack of departure and simply worked around them until the message that they had been waiting for finally came in. The _Ya'Vang_ had been badly damaged and there were a few injuries but no casualties were reported.

Worf could be seen to take a deep sigh of relief before he pulled away from the station and began to make his way to the lift. Jadzia quickly followed behind her husband and slipped into the lift before it began to lower itself to the lower level. She waited until the two were completely alone before confirming that Alexander's ship survived the attack by the Dominion.

"The _Ya'Vang _has been badly damaged but it would appear that its crew has made it safely through the battle," Worf confirmed with a stiff nod.

Jadzia allowed herself to release a sigh of relief at the news but did not ask any further questions since the lift came to rest on the promenade. Instead, she continued to walk beside Worf until they reached their quarters where the large Klingon collapsed in one of the chairs in the room. Seeing the flood of emotions that Worf was trying to conceal, Jadzia felt the overwhelming urge to ask her husband just what else it was that was bothering him. Alexander was fine and would likely make contact for himself just as soon as he reached the star-base.

"It…just does not seem right that Alexander is out there. He does not belong on a Klingon Warship."

Jadzia's face scrunched up in confusion. "I thought that all you ever wanted from Alexander was for him to be a warrior in the Empire. It's likely the whole reason that he joined in the first place; trying to please you. What do you mean he doesn't belong there?"

"He does not hear the cry of the warrior spurring him on to battle. Without that cry in his heart he is like a small child wearing a pair of shoes that are too big for him. Eventually he will stumble and get himself hurt; possibly killed." What Worf didn't say was that he felt responsible for giving that same pair of too large boots to Alexander and told him to put them on.

"Worf, I don't get it. Your son is trying to live up to being the Klingon that you've always wanted him to be. I would think that you'd be proud of him. From what I saw of him on his birthday he has really started to fit in with his ship-mates and is happy. Sure he may not have the same killing instinct that most other Klingons have but there are a lot of officers in Starfleet that don't and it works out just fine for them-"

"You do not understand. Before I sent him back to Earth to live with my parents, Alexander himself told me that his life would be dedicated to peace. He would not grow up to be a warrior."

"Kids grow up, Worf. They change their minds. I can remember when Tobin's son-"

"No. It was not like that all. Alexander, the child, is not the one that told me of his future," Worf interrupted leaving Jadzia even more confused. "I have…not spoken of this to anyone."

"Spoken of what?" Jadzia sat across from Worf and waited for him to clear up just what he was saying.

"Shortly before Alexander was to undergo the First Rite of Ascension, he declared that he had no plans to become a warrior. In an effort to try to change his mind, I took him to the Klingon outpost on Maranga Four where a Kot'baval celebration was being held. We spent the day there and just before it was time to leave, three Klingon warriors attacked us. It was then that a fourth man appeared out nowhere and helped me to fight off the assailants."

"Okay, so you were attacked and got some help. I still don't see what this has to do with Alexander now."

"The man claimed to be K'mtar; gin'tak for our family. But he wasn't. After days of working alongside him and trying to work together to convince Alexander to choose to become a warrior, I returned to my quarters to find him with a disruptor in his hand standing over a sleeping Alexander."

Jadzia's eyes went wide as she realized that the Klingon had planned to murder an unarmed, sleeping, child. "He was willing to KILL Alexander just because he didn't want to become a warrior?"

"Obviously, I was ready to kill K'mtar myself right then and there. It was then that he reveal to me who he REALLY was." Worf paused as he remembered the shock of that day. The shock of the knowledge that his son could be fill with so much regret that he would have rather ended his existence as a child than to return to his own timeline.

"Well, who was he?"

"He was…Alexander. He had traveled back forty years from the future in an attempt to change history. He did so to try to convince his younger self that he needed to be trained in the ways of a Klingon Warrior. When it became apparent that Alexander was not willing to do so, the elder version of himself had decided that he'd rather die than to have history turn out the way it had in his timeline. He explained to me that, in his time, I had been assassinated on the floor of the High Council due to his attempts to bring peace to the Empire. Wishing to prevent this future, he had traveled back in time in an attempt to ensure that he would not grow up to be a diplomat, but rather a warrior who could fight at my side."

"Worf, all of that's just a little hard to believe. How do you know that he was really Alexander?"

"He was able to tell me, in detail, what happened when his mother died. We were the only two in the room and I had never told another exactly what had happened that day. He knew. He WAS Alexander, Jadzia," Worf insisted. "It was then that I knew that his path was not one of a warrior. He has a destiny that is driven by peace. I knew that he did not need me to pressure him to become a Klingon Warrior any longer but I also knew that if he remained with me I would not be able to help myself. That is when I sent him back to my parents on Earth. I knew that they would be able to foster the desire for peace in a way that I never could have."

Jadzia tried to let everything that Worf was telling her sink in. Alexander had traveled forty years into the past to try to alter his own future as well as prevent his father's death. He told Worf all of this and Worf, instead of trying to prevent his son from growing up the way he had in the other timeline, had done the only thing he could think of to ENSURE that his son fulfilled the destiny that he'd been told would be his son's. He'd sacrificed all of those years with his son because he thought that he would prevent him from growing up to be the man that he knew he would be otherwise.

"Worf, have you ever thought of telling any of this to Alexander? I know that he's always felt abandoned by being sent away…Perhaps if you told him your reasons for sending him to Earth."

"No. The boy must not be told of his future. It would only make him self-conscious of his actions now."

"Worf, it's very likely that the timeline has been altered already. Telling him what happened in another doesn't necessarily affect this one. It could help him to see why you've done what you have." Jadzia placed a hand over his and smiled to show him that she understood his reasons in the past. She had been wondering about Worf's choices in regards to Alexander ever since she first learned that he had a son; especially after Worf had shown the desire to have another child with her after babysitting Yoshi. It was clear that Worf wanted to experience all of those things that he'd missed out with Alexander but until now Jadzia couldn't understand why he would constantly hold himself back from his son that he already had. Now it was clear that Worf, in his own strange way of thinking, thought that he had done what was best for his son.

"We cannot be certain of that, Jadzia."

"Worf, nothing is guaranteed. But one thing I can say based both on that story that you've told me and from watching Alexander for myself. Alexander loves you; both in this timeline and in the other. In this timeline he wants your approval so much that he's joined the Klingon Defense Forces and in the other timeline he loved you so much that he risked going back into the past to try to save you. Even if it meant that he wouldn't live the life that he had wanted. I think that he deserves to know your reasons for doing what you've done. Especially if we plan to try to have a child of our own."

Worf looked up at his wife sharply at the last part. She had been adamant that she wasn't ready to try to have a family just yet when he had suggested it. Now it appeared that learning of his reasons behind some of his choices in regards to Alexander's upbringing has changed her mind.

"Do you mean that? You want a child?"

"Worf, nothing would make me happier than to have your child," Jadzia got up from her seat and moved over to sit in Worf's lap as she spoke. "But first, you have to promise me that you'll talk about all of this with Alexander the next time he comes to the station. No running off to volunteer for a mission with Martok just to avoid talking to him this time."

"Jadzia-"

"I'm serious, Worf. We can't even think about having a child of our own until you work this out with Alexander."

Worf felt a growl in his throat in response to the ultimatum. He had vowed that he would never speak of any of this to another yet he had done so with very little prodding from his wife and now she has declared that he would tell Alexander as well. Perhaps she was right. Alexander was nearly a full-grown man. Maybe it was time to tell him the story of K'mtar.


	7. VII

K'nera made her way to the Captain's Ready Room to inform him of the plans to exchange the passenger manifests with the other ships that were on their way to rendezvous at Star-base 1182. The ready room aboard the _Ya'Vang, _ like on any other _Vor'cha_ class ship, was designed to emphasize the prestige and prowess of the ship's captain. Along the walls, M'jaK had displayed weapons and trophies of previous battles and conquests. The only chair within the room was one that was meant solely for the captain. K'nera stood at attention as she waited for her uncle to acknowledge her presence.

"I would have thought that you would still be seeing to our _GUESTS_. What are you doing here now?"

"I was not needed there. Alexander has the situation down there well in hand. In fact, he appeared to be familiar with one of the refugees."

"Yes, it would seem that the ambassador's daughter was his Soh-chim." M'jaK shook his head at the knowledge. "Still, I want you to remain with them as well and see to it that everything remains under control until we arrive at the star-base in another six hours."

K'nera clinched her jaw as she tried to decide if she should share her discomforts in regards to the other Betazoids on the ship. Unfortunately she never got to make her decision. Her uncle could tell from experience that she had a refusal on the tip of her tongue and asked her what her qualms were. He only gave a slight look of disapproval when she spoke to him in the familiar rather than addressing him as Captain. Though so long as the rest of the crew were not present, he really didn't mind while speaking with his niece.

"M'jaK, I'd prefer to be reassigned elsewhere on the ship. Being in such close proximity with the other telepaths is rather difficult for me. I've never really bothered with training to keep other telepaths out before. On Celyn Four, each individual wanted peace and were there to learn how to not delve into the thoughts of others haphazardly. These Betazoids are used to using telepathy before even trying to speak. I can't handle all of the prodding from them when I'm down there."

The Captain stared at K'nera for a few moments while considering her request. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't have asked to avoid a duty without there being a real concern but he also knew just how tenuous the crew's feelings were in regards to aliens on their ship. Asking them to accept one Betazoid among their ranks had been one thing but now they were all paranoid over the fact that dozens more were on board which only reinforced the xenophobic hostilities on the _Ya'Vang_. M'jaK knew that it would be unwise to send most of the other members of his crew to assist with the refugees. No. It would be best if his niece continued to aid with the telepaths down below rather than to add any of the other crew into the mix.

"K'nera, perhaps this situation can give you a unique opportunity. You've only known how those unfortunate Klingons that have been born with psionic abilities have learned to cope with their disabilities. You have never had the chance to see how those of your own kind have learned to cope with them. I suggest that you utilize this opportunity and explore your forgotten heritage."

"I don't WANT to explore my heritage."

"You may feel that way for now but you might change your mind and regret not doing so later on." M'jaK was not unsympathetic but he really did need his niece to help keep his unplanned passengers occupied until they reached the rendezvous. In a way, he knew that he had actually been lucky in regards to his Bekk's prior knowledge and relationship with the ambassador. It made some things much simpler in that respect. Still, he could not be expected to handle the dozens of panicked Betazoids on his own for long. "Now, return to the VIP quarters and do what you can to keep everyone under control."

K'nera took a deep breath of resignation before nodding. "I just need your permission to exchange a passenger manifest list with the other ships that took on refugees from the planet's surface. Alexander suggested that it would make the transition for everyone once they reached the star-base run more smoothly if everyone already knew where their friends and family were at before arriving."

M'jaK raised a brow at the request. He was not used to taking on passengers of the civilian kind and refugees were of a different sort altogether. He supposed that by granting this request it should ensure that those that were currently in the VIP quarters would stay out of his hair. Nodding, M'jaK told K'nera to use the computer console in the makeshift quarters for the Betazoids and dismissed her.

Judging by the look that she was trying to hide, M'jaK suspected that K'nera had hoped to use one of the bridge consoles so that she would have an excuse to not return to the VIP quarters too soon. Had she been a Klingon member of his crew, not to mention one that was not a relative, he would have called her out on her disrespect. It was clear that he needed to see to having her transferred soon. He was going soft where she was concerned and he couldn't allow that at all. He must maintain order and respect from ALL of his crew. If he couldn't do that, then he didn't deserve to command this ship.

* * *

Back in the VIP quarters, Alexander was filling Lwaxana in on the various changes in his life since he'd last seen her on the_ Enterprise_. Mainly just so he could keep her distracted from the day's events and the uncertainty of what had happened to her son and valet. In return, Lwaxana gave the young man a rundown of some of her more recent escapades; including those that took her to Deep Space Nine. After learning that Alexander's father had recently gotten married she dug through her memory to recall just who the woman that had the misfortune of being the bride for the stoic Klingon was.

"Well, all I can say is that I hope that woman is prepared for a long and BORING life. I don't think I've ever even seen that father of yours crack a smile. How absolutely dull."

"I think that she'll do enough smiling and joking around for the both of them," Alexander chuckled while he, too, tried to remember the last time he'd seen his father truly enjoy himself. Well, other than while he was on the path to Kal'Hyah that is. "Jadzia will see to it that my father's life is never boring again. She'll be good for him."

"I certainly hope so. Your father could use a little excitement in his life. Maybe then he won't be so stern all of the time," Lwaxana replied as she noticed that the Betazoid officer had returned and made her way to the computer console on the far side of the room. She also caught Alexander watching her as she did so. Ever the romantic, Lwaxana smiled and leaned in to Alexander and whispered, "Well, so it would seem that my Little Warrior has a bit of a crush on a certain young lady."

"Wha-?" He blushed furiously as he stammered. Alexander hadn't even realized that he'd let his attention wander, even if briefly, but it was clear that Lwaxana had.

"Oh there's no reason to be embarrassed. It's perfectly natural," Lwaxana giggled as she watched Alexander nervously run a hand over his long but well groomed hair. Briefly, she thought with approval that at least Alexander had acquired one positive trait from his father; she never could see why most Klingons seemed to prefer to allow their hair to hang wildly about their head. She would think that it would be distracting during battle but then she wasn't a warrior. She was, however, an expert in fashion and she liked seeing Alexander's hair neatly tucked away as it was now. "I would say, though, that you should be more discreet if you don't plan tell her about your feelings. She IS a telepath after all. In fact, she likely already knows by now which would mean that there is no point in trying to hide them any longer."

The reminder that K'nera probably was already well aware of his infatuation only served to cause Alexander's face to become even more heated than it had been only seconds before. A sight that the ambassador seemed to find quite amusing. "She's just a friend, nothing more, Lwaxana."

"Of course she is. An ancient Betazed saying states, _One who speaks one thing, and thinks another, is fighting a war inside_," she replied with a knowing smile. "So, tell me about this unusual member of the crew. Do you know why a Betazoid would choose to serve on board a Klingon warship?"

Alexander spared another glance at the woman in question and saw that she was busy with the computer console and seemed to be oblivious to the fact that she was the subject of their conversation. Alexander shrugged as he spoke, "She was raised on Qo'noS so it sort of makes sense that she'd join the Defense Forces."

"Really?" That knowledge surprised Lwaxana. "Why in the world would a Betazoid be raised by Klingons?"

"Her father and adoptive father were good friends. K'nera's parents were killed by the Romulans when she was little; she has lived among the Klingons ever since then from what I understand."

"That doesn't make sense. If her parents were killed then surely one from their families would have stepped forward to care for the child." Lwaxana was now even more curious about the young blond woman since she knew that it was not custom for her people to abandon their children to be raised by outsiders. Standing, Lwaxana quickly made her way toward the computer console that K'nera was stationed at and working on contacting the other ships in regards to their passenger manifests.

Alexander stumbled to his feet once he realized that the older woman planned to actually speak with K'nera herself. "Lwaxana, wait."

Ignoring Alexander, Lwaxana came to rest just behind K'nera and spoke up, "Young Lady, I'd liked to ask you about how you came to live with Klingons."

K'nera looked up to see the ambassador standing behind her with Alexander mouthing an apology to her as he joined her. In her mind, she could feel the ever so slight probing that indicated that Lwaxana would prefer to have the conversation telepathically since it would lead to a quicker discussion but K'nera tamped down her own abilities as a means to block the woman.

"I'm very busy trying to get these manifests together. If this could wait-"

"I'm sure that you can talk and work at the same time." Lwaxana pulled up a chair to sit beside K'nera. "Tell me, who were your parents."

"I really need to work on these-"

"I know but like I said, you can do that while you are talking." Lwaxana leaned forward and rested her elbows on the console in a manner that was fully meant to show that she wasn't going anywhere. After all, she needed something to keep her busy until they reached the star-base.

Seeing that there was little that he could do once the woman had made up her mind, Alexander decided to discreetly return toward the other side of the room to speak with the other refugees as Lwaxana grilled his friend.

K'nera exhaled heavily as she eyed Lwaxana. Almost in resignation, she pulled up the next passenger list and began to copy them onto a data pad before she finally mumbled, "My parents were Rennan and Javana Stadax."

Lwaxana's brow's creased as she tried to put some faces to the names. They seemed vaguely familiar to her but she couldn't be sure. "Stadax… I don't understand why you were not raised by your mother's family once you were orphaned. Children, especially daughters, are highly valued among our people."

"Your people, Ambassador; not mine. I've lived with the Klingons since I was three years old. I have not had any contact with YOUR people since then," K'nera said with just a touch of bitterness that she desperately tried to conceal.

"My, you aren't too friendly are you? I'm only trying to make conversation, after all."

"No, what you are doing is snooping." Okay, so yes she was being unfriendly but she was being stretched to her limits right now and this woman wasn't helping. "Look, I know that you are just trying to kill some time but I really would prefer not to go into my past. I'm here to perform a duty and I'm trying to get it done so that you can know what has happened to the others that you were asking about. I'll be willing to talk to you about nearly anything else after I've finished but to be frank, I rather not discuss my parents. Anything in me that was Betazoid died with them. Lor'vah took me in when no one else would and he is my family now."

"You say that everything of Betazed died with your parents but I can sense you trying to hide your telepathic abilities. THOSE are not Klingon and there is nothing that you can try to say that will change that fact, Young One." Lwaxana used her own honed powers of mental telepathy to try to catch a stray thought from the young woman in front of her. She was quite surprised to find that the wall of dissidence that the younger woman had erected was quite strong. "How old were you when your psionic abilities first began to show themselves? Ten? Eleven perhaps?"

K'nera put her data pad down and turned in her chair out of frustration. It was clear that she wouldn't get any more work done until she had satisfied the older woman's curiosity. "I was born with them. Anything else that you want to know?"

Lwaxana's eyes widened just a bit at the news. All Betazoids develop telepathic abilities at some point in their lives. The most common time is during the age of puberty, which for Betazed children is usually around ten or eleven, though children have been known to be born with their abilities and resulting in the need of extensive early therapy. These children have been known to work through therapy and become productive members of society (though many times they end up regulated to living their lives tucked away within hospitals). These individuals are almost always extremely talented and powerful in telepathic terms, but also unable to screen out the noise of other people's minds, so they generally suffer mental problems of varying severity depending mostly on when the problem was diagnosed. For Lwaxana, to find one such member of her society to be living not only among others but to be fully entrenched in such an aggressive society as the Klingons was nearly impossible for her to imagine.

"You were born with them?" Perhaps that explained why her family had not taken her in after her parents' death. They hadn't wanted to deal with the burden of raising a child whose powers of the mind were too extreme by most standards to be healthy. "But…But how were you able to-"

"Lor'vah saw to it that I received the proper training within Klingon society. I've learned to suppress them for the most part."

"My Dear, your abilities are not meant to be merely suppressed. They are a part of you. Denying them is a lot like trying to go about life with one hand tied behind your back."

"I've managed. Now, if it would please you, I really do need to get this list completed so that each of you will know what ships you will need to find to meet up with your families once we've reached the station."

Lwaxana pursed her lips since she was now more curious about the sole Daughter of Betazed within the Klingon Empire than she had been before she had started talking with her. Despite the wall that K'nera had up to keep her from probing her actual thoughts, Lwaxana could sense the turmoil that was at the forefront of the younger woman's mind. "You know, that pressure that you are feeling would lessen if you didn't try to suppress your powers so much. It's why you are having a harder time with other telepaths present."

"How did you know that I was-?"

"Like I said, your abilities are a part of you. Denying them, bottling them up like you are doing to them, will only make you feel as if you are going to explode. Once you start actively using them you'll be able to control the rush of voices that you hear from others around you."

"I prefer to not snoop on my friends," K'nera said despite the fact that she knew very well that she had done so on more than one occasion. Some of those times had even been on purpose. Other times, they hadn't been. Then of course there were the times that she had tapped into the anger of others to help her when she needed to fight, particularly the Jem'Hadar, since fighting itself went against the nature of Betazoids.

"Ah, yes. The line does get a little blurred when you don't live among other telepaths. With telepaths, we have always recognized that we have nothing to hide from others. Those without such openness may consider it to be a violation but…" Lwaxana recalled with some amusement the first few times that she had mentioned some of Captain Picard's own thoughts that he'd had when he hadn't been conscious of thinking about her. It had been far too easy to get under the man's skin by calling him on them. "Anyway, I still stand by what I've said. You need to exercise your mental prowess a bit more. Then your mind wouldn't be so muddled and you'd be able to actually relax a bit. And don't be concerned about offending others that are around you. They need never know that you are taking a peak every once in a while."

"I don't think that I'd be comfortable doing that, Ambassador."

"Oh, nonsense." Lwaxana stood and then glanced over at Alexander before adding with a wink, "Besides, you just might be surprised at what you'd learn with a little discreet snooping."


	8. VIII

Alexander bade Lwaxana good-bye before K'nera activated the transporter to beam both her and the final group of Betazoid refugees to the designated star-base. He promised to try to stay in touch and Lwaxana assured him that if he didn't that she would find him instead. As the beam cleared, Alexander turned and glanced at K'nera and swore that he saw her visibly relax slightly now that the other Betazoids had left the ship.

"I take it that you didn't find Ambassador Troi's company all that enjoyable."

"Enjoyable? Not particularly. She is… a unique individual."

Alexander chuckled at K'nera's way of trying to describe the old family friend. "That she is. So, what all did she discuss with you earlier? You looked like you would like to throttle her before she finally left you alone."

"The Ambassador is quite blunt and you are correct. Had she been someone else I might have been tempted to do just that."

"You'll learn that ALL Betazoids are very honest. Right to the point of being blunt. Or haven't you noticed that about yourself before?" Alexander asked with a snicker. "I believe that is one of the reasons that you've always been in trouble with your uncle."

"Saying that all Betazoids are blunt is a lot like saying that all Klingons are hostile. And I think that we both know that no one would consider YOU to be a TYPICALLY HOSTILE Klingon." K'nera shook her head as she spoke.

"You might be surprised," Alexander turned toward the door of the transporter room to prepare to leave. "I have my moments."

"Sure you do." K'nera gave him a wry grin since she had yet to see Alexander really lose his temper in the same way she had seen any other Klingon in her life. Before Alexander stepped out of the Transporter Room K'nera spoke back up, "I know that you ended up missing your training session today with Ch'Targh."

"It was for a good cause," Alexander shrugged with a smile. "I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to watch over the Betazoids alongside us."

"Well if you'd like to get in some practice today, despite the day's delay, I plan to be training in about an hour." K'nera ran her eyes over the transporter's display to ensure that it had powered down properly as she spoke, "You're welcomed to join me if you'd like."

Alexander stopped mid-step before turning to look at K'nera. Spending an hour alone with her, even if they were only training, actually sounded pretty good to him. Of course he didn't want to appear too eager to do so. Lwaxana's words of how she probably already was aware of his feelings for K'nera rang in his head which nearly caused him to stumble over his words. "I…uh… I'd like to…"

"But you're worried that you'd hurt me? Don't worry. I train with my uncle all the time and he almost never goes easy on me. Come on. It could be fun."

"In that case," Alexander pulled on his tunic to straighten it. "Why not?"

"Good. I'll see you in there at about twenty-one hundred hours." K'nera gave a smile as she picked up some of Alexander's thoughts. She wondered if what she was sensing had anything to do with Lwaxana Troi's suggestion at discreet snooping.

* * *

In the days after the refugees had left, the crew begun to settle back into the usual routine and some of the uneasiness that had run rampant on board had begun to dissipate once the _Ya'Vang_ had been reassigned back into Klingon space. It had joined the fleet that was charged with protecting Qo'noS from the Dominion shortly after the attack on Betazed. Since then the Dominion had stepped up their attacks which had caused some concern that there might be more aggressive strikes within the Empire's realm. As a result, Chancellor Gowron had decided that it would be prudent to reinforce the Klingon borders as he pushed the Federation for more offensive strikes on behalf of the entire Alpha Quadrant.

Alexander had personally hoped to be sent back to join Martok's fleet instead of being assigned to the Homeworld. Had the ship joined the squadrons of ships that had been placed under Martok's command it would have given Alexander the chance to see his father again. Though perhaps he'd elect to not suggest a holosuite program considering that the last time that he'd planned one his father had disappeared before Alexander arrived at the station.

One good thing about being assigned to the Homeworld, however, was that when the crew was given leave they were able to attend the latest celebration for some festival that Alexander could barely pronounce the name of but he was certain that he'd have a good time at anyway. He had been to enough Klingon celebrations to know to expect operas and reenactments of various historic battles. Alexander had gone with some of the members of the crew to the festivals and had genuinely enjoyed himself.

While on the planet's surface, (today included) he had taken K'nera's advice and simply introduced himself as T'knehzoR of the House of Martok rather than Alexander the son of Worf. Being on the Homeworld made him very aware just how much the name of his father could spur controversy. Worf had both fallen out of favor and been exalted only to fall once more several times in recent years; the most recent had been when he had refused to support the Chancellor's war against the Federation just before the start of the Dominion War. Some praised him for not kowtowing to the pressures of his superiors but most considered him to be a Federation Lackey instead. While only being known as a member of the General's House, however, Alexander could see the respect that was given to him just by association. It confirmed the idea that he should go by his Klingon name by most and only allow those that were closest to him to use his Human name.

Alexander had just finished watching a Klingon Opera on one of Kahless's battles on the street along with several of his crew-mates. Among them, were Ch'Targh, Kornan, Koloth, DedaJ and K'nera. The day of shore-leave had been going well for most of the day but during the mid-day meal at a stand near the main plaza a small group of Klingons approached their tables. A quick glance told Alexander that the lead Klingon bore the emblem of the House of Martok.

"I was told that some petaQ here claimed to be a member of the House of my father. Yet I have no knowledge of anyone named T'knehzoR. So tell me. Why should I not cut your tongue out for such deception?"

Those that were still seated at the table all tensed as if ready for battle but looked to Alexander to wait for his answer before reacting. Alexander raised a brow as he took in the appearance of the other man. He'd seen holovids of Martok's son and knew him on sight despite the fact that he hadn't seen him in person yet. Alexander reached across the table and grabbed some sauce to put on his bregit lung before he spoke.

"No deception. Perhaps you would recognize my Human name instead, Alexander Rozhenko. Your father invited me to join his house earlier this year."

"Ah, yes. The HUMAN-MUTT. Tell me. Just what kind of name is ALEXANDER? Certainly not one of a warrior," Drex snickered.

"Actually, if you were familiar with Earth's history, then you'd know that the greatest warrior in the planet's history was simply known as _Alexander the Great_," Alexander tried to act as casually as possible since this was the son of Martok. It would not be wise to antagonize him out of respect for his father. "He rose to power in the fourth century and conquered nearly the entire known world at the time in only three years. Even before Kahless himself had fought in any battles. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still taught his tactics well into the twenty-third century."

"A HUMAN warrior?" Drex bellowed with laughter. "Surely not one worthy of a Klingon."

"I'm sure that is up for interpretation," Alexander shrugged.

Drex lowered his eyes as he tried to decide if there was some veiled insult behind Alexander's words. "My father should have been more discerning in his recent admittance into our Great House. At least you have SOME Klingon blood. In fact, without that ridiculous name you might could even pass for one. But he's even allowed a TRILL to join recently. If I'm not mistaken, she is the mate of your father. His foolish choices will be the end of our Great House if he is not careful."

Mentioning Jadzia had a certain effect on Alexander that he couldn't quite explain. She wasn't his mother, not really, but hearing her insulted was like hearing someone saying much the same thing about K'Ehleyr. Alexander turned in his chair to finally face Drex fully. He didn't take a true aggressive posture but he did straighten just a bit as he crossed is arms.

"Drex, the way I see it. Anyone can be born into a Great House. It's all a matter of genetics. Being invited into a House though…" Alexander raised a brow while leaving the rest of the sentence unsaid. "As for Jadzia, if you think that she wasn't worthy of joining the House of Martok then I would suggest that you take that up with your mother. It was her decision, actually, to allow her entrance. Something that I happen to know she didn't do lightly either. Jadzia is honorable; Trill or not. Your mother is a formidable woman; one whose wisdom I would not go against if given the choice. If the Lady Sirella saw something in a LOWLY Trill that was worthy of her House, then I would suggest that you take a deeper look to try to see just what she did."

Drex ground his teeth; he'd been hoping that he could spur the younger Klingon to react in a way that he could be justified in attacking him. Instead he lauded Drex's mother while defending his own step-mother. Not exactly something that he could use as a launching pad to put ALEXANDER in his place with. Drex growled under his breath before one of the larger men at the table finally spoke.

"Well now that we all know one another," Ch'Targh was amused by Drex's reactions to what appeared to be Alexander's sharpest weapon; his words. "Perhaps you would like to join us for the mid-day meal. After all, I'm sure you would not want to dishonor your father by fighting with one of your own household."

Drex sneered at the suggestion before exchanging glances with his companions before turning to stalk back off. After he and the other Klingons had left, those sitting at the table began to chuckle.

"That's one for T'knehzoR of the House of Martok," Kornan snickered as he raised his glass of bloodwine. "A victory in a battle of words that I'm sure would even have been worthy of this _Alexander the Great _of yours."

Alexander turned back to his meal smiling. It was clear that Drex was not used to using his wits in battle rather than a bat'leth. At least he knew he had ONE weapon at his disposal that he was well adept at.

* * *

Later that evening, Alexander made his way back to the ship and was heading to his quarters when the First Officer stopped him to inform him that he had an incoming transmission waiting for him. Confused, Alexander made his way to the nearest communication station and pulled up the message and was surprised to see General Martok on the other end of the transmission.

"General Martok," Alexander wondered if Drex had contacted his father after the minor scene down on the planet's surface. If so, he wondered just what he could have said that would prompt the man to contact him personally. "It is an honor to hear from you. I just spoke with your son today. I-"

"I'm afraid that this is not a social call, Alexander." The General's face held a look of regret at what he was about to say before continuing. "I'm afraid that I have some bad news."

Alexander straightened in his chair and swallowed. "My father. Is he…Is he alright?"

"It is not your father, Alexander. It's Jadzia."

* * *

Alexander sat at the table in the Main Mess Hall and stared at his empty cup that had been filled with bloodwine when he had sat down. He couldn't believe that Jadzia had been killed. It was only today that he'd surprised himself by thinking of her as more than just his father's wife. She had come close to becoming another mother to him. Even when his father did not keep up with his transmissions, Jadzia had seen to it to return every single one of his messages that he'd sent to Deep Space Nine. They had literally talked for hours about nearly anything and everything over sub-space.

Jadzia had even broken the news to him only last night that she and his father had wanted to let him know that they were thinking about starting a family. She hadn't wanted Alexander to feel awkward considering his and Worf's own father/son relationship so she wanted to make sure that he hadn't had any objections to the whole idea. Alexander had hoped that with Jadzia's help Worf could have learned to be a better father than he had been to Alexander himself. Now that was no longer a possibility. Words that Jadzia had cryptically spoken to him had suggested that his father had reasons for sending him away but she would wait and let Worf tell Alexander. Without Jadzia's prodding Alexander doubted that he'd ever know just what those reasons had been.

Martok had told Alexander that his father was not taking his wife's death well. Alexander had seen his father's reaction to his mother's, K'Ehleyr, death and he suspected that Worf was even more broken now than he had been then. Alexander had often wondered if his father had ever loved his mother. For Jadzia, there had been no question at all. While on the station during the wedding planning, Alexander had literally seen that the Trill had been the very light in his father's eyes. It had been her that had put a spring in his step and could even provoke him to laughter. Without her, Worf just might not be seen to laugh again. Which was too bad since his father's laughter had been a sound that had begun to grow on him.

Alexander didn't know just how long he'd been sitting in the Mess Hall when he felt a hand covering his. Looking up, he saw K'nera sitting across from him with a look of compassion in her eyes. She had sensed his grieving and had come to offer him any comfort that she could. The comfort of a true friend. She did one thing that he couldn't do since Klingons don't have tear ducts; she cried for the fallen Trill and did so openly.


	9. IX

K'nera glanced at Alexander as he left the Mess Deck after the morning meal. In the months since the invasion of Betazed K'nera had begun to put to practice Ambassador Troi's advice in regards to using her telepathic abilities and found that it really had begun to help her find her center when she needed to. Now looking at her friend, her heart broke for him. In a sense, he had lost two mothers already in a span of about ten years.

The death of his father's wife had hit him hard and for a while K'nera hadn't been sure just what she could do to help him get past it. It was not normal for a Klingon to grieve for so long for a fallen friend or family member. Death was not something to be feared in the Klingon society. In general, the opinion of life and death could be summed up very simply. _Life is short, grasp it with both hands and live like tomorrow will never come. If you know you will not get out of a situation alive then you might as well go out in style._ Still, Alexander, despite his recent emergence in the culture, had not been raised as other Klingons.

Humans face death differently than Klingons. Death is an unknown that is to be feared and avoided at all costs. Humans also tend to try to make sense of the reasons behind a death; especially when that death had not been expected. Jadzia had not been ill nor had she gone marching off to battle the morning that she had died. A crazed madman simply found her as an inconvenience that was in his way so he killed her without thought. Such disregard for life made her death even harder to face. Alexander did not, could not, look upon death in the same manner as the rest of those on the ship. His Human blood would not allow him to. A part of him wished that he could but it just wasn't in him to do so.

Before Ch'Targh left to make his way to find his station on the bridge as well, K'nera stepped forward to stop him so that she could speak with him. She wanted to discuss his bunkmate with him. K'nera asked if he knew whether or not Worf had contacted his son yet in the time since Jadzia's death.

Ch'Targh eyed the young Betazoid carefully as he tried to decide if he should speak of his young charge with the hur'q. In general, while he wouldn't consider himself among the xenophobes that were on the ship, he didn't trust other races. Particularly those that possessed psionic abilities. Still, the young woman that stood before him had on countless times while serving on board proven that while her body may be Betazoid her heart was Klingon. He also knew that Alexander considered the woman to be a close friend; one of the few on board actually.

Exhaling roughly, "No. I believe that the General has spoken with him a few times but not his father. I won't hold my breath waiting for him to contact his son, either. Those two have had a strained relationship for years. Somehow I do not see Commander Worf reaching out to his son now."

K'nera heard and sensed the dislike for Worf in the Klingon's voice and cocked her head as she spoke, "You've met Alexander's father?"

Nodding his head, "He was the General's First Officer on the _Rotarran_ for a time. Let's just say that I wouldn't consider him having ever done any favors for Alexander. He woefully neglected his son's training, not to mention the boy himself, for too long. I hold no respect for a man that does that to his child."

K'nera remembered back to Alexander's birthday and how he had been disappointed that his father had left the station just before he was to arrive. She had hoped that it had just been a coincidence that his departure had been so close to his son's arrival but now she had her doubts.

"At least Alexander seems to be doing a lot better recently; which is good since what ground he had gained among the rest of the crew after casting aside his human name in favor of T'knehzoR while around most of the other Klingons had begun to slip away."

Nodding, K'nera then allowed Ch'Targh to head in behind the others to the bridge. She knew that she could have easily found out what she had learned by delving into Alexander's thoughts but she wasn't quite comfortable doing that still. Catching his stray thoughts or sensing his emotions were one thing; actively snooping into his mind was a completely different matter.

* * *

Alexander scanned his monitor and saw it showed the system was deathly quiet. There was absolutely no indication of Jem'Hadar ships anywhere on their sensors. Of course Alexander knew that they were not stationed to guard against the Dominion here in this system. Not this time at least. On the outer rim of the sensor's reach lay the Romulan fleet. They had recently joined the Alliance against the Dominion/Cardassian forces. There was no doubt that Chancellor Gowran did not trust the Romulans anymore than he did the Dominion. So as a response to their presences so close to the Empire, he had assigned squadrons of fleets to guard against them along the Klingon border that faced them.

Alexander didn't trust the Romulans anymore than any other Klingon that he knew but he also wondered just how the Alpha Quadrant Alliance was supposed to defeat the Dominion from the Gamma Quadrant if they couldn't put aside old hostilities long enough to fight only one enemy at a time instead of waiting for their own allies to double-cross them. Now the two fleets were staring at one another across an imaginary line in the sand; neither trusting the other but both reluctantly dependent on the other for their own sector's safety.

A part of Alexander wondered if the temporary alliance with the Romulans could ever last once the war is over. That is if the war ever did end. He knew that all it would take right now would be for one nervous trigger finger to break the tenuous cease-fire between the two empires. From there the two empires would likely pull their forces from the front-lines against the Dominion and fight a war on a second front without even thinking about it. Of course Gowran could have posted ships that had once been loyal to the Duras family along the border. They were used to working alongside them; but then Gowran would have had to worry about their loyalty to him and the Empire.

Fighting back a chuckle to himself, Alexander found the whole political climate within the Empire to be ridiculous. To him it seemed that it would be obvious to see that if the various factions within Klingon Empire could just work together it would be much stronger. Instead, the Empire appeared to be one big house of cards; just waiting for someone to come along and knock it over. As it was, each man who made it to a position of power within the Empire then had to spend the rest of their lives waiting for someone else to come along and try to steal it away from them.

As Alexander's rotation shift ended, he got ready to leave the bridge only to be told that a communication was coming through for him from DS9. Curious, Alexander made his way to a comm station just off of the bridge. He wondered if his father had finally decided to contact him after Jadzia's death but when he switched the communique on he was not greeted by his father but by a Trill whom he'd not ever met before. She looked young; she probably hadn't been out of Starfleet Academy for more than a couple of years at most. She had short dark hair and looked nervous as she sat on her end of the transmission link.

"Alexander," the Trill squirmed where she was sitting and bit her lip as she waited for him to reply.

"Can I help you?"

"Huh? Oh, right. You have no idea how I know you. It's me; Dax."

Alexander blinked in surprise since he'd not really thought much about the symbiont since Jadzia's death. It had not even occurred to him that it had survived when she had not. Nor had he thought about how all of the things that he'd spoken with his step-mother about would ever be known to the next host, either. Unsure of what to say, he swallowed and tried to figure out just what he was supposed to say to the woman.

"Dax, right. So you…?"

"Yeh, I know that this is sort of weird for you but I just wanted to talk to you. You know, just in case you end up back here on the station, I don't want you to be caught off guard or anything." As if just remembering that she had yet to fully introduce herself, she then jumped in with, "By the way, you can call me Ezri. I'm the new counselor for the Station."

"You're a counselor?"

"Why does everyone always seem so surprised to hear that?!"

"I wouldn't know," Alexander chuckled but sat back in his chair and settled in for what was bound to be an intriguing conversation.

* * *

After he'd finished speaking with Ezri, Alexander felt better about Jadzia's death than he expected. He didn't know why but knowing that she wasn't completely gone helped him to allow her memory to rest in peace. By the end of the conversation, he also looked forward to getting to know the new host for the Dax symbiont. She seemed interesting and (like him) a bit out of her element at times. She had never prepared herself for the task that she was now faced with; the task of carrying on a legacy of eight previous hosts.

One thing that crossed his mind after he'd ended the communication had been Jadzia's cryptic allusion to the fact that his father had shared his reasons for sending him away to Earth with her. Perhaps now he could finally learn what those reasons had been. If he did learn of them, would he agree with them? Would he even be able to understand them? There was only one way to know that for sure and that was to hear them for himself. Then perhaps he could truly forgive his father for his absence during a time that he really could have used him around.

Alexander figured that he'd best wait before he approached Ezri about what Dax knew of his father's conversation with Jadzia. For now, at least he knew that there was a chance to learn what had been said; sooner or later.

* * *

K'nera raised her bat'leth up to block M'jaK's next blow and not for the first time wished that she had the same endurance that the Klingons had on board. The muscles in her arms burned with the strain of trying to keep up with the rigorous regimen that her uncle kept her on while on board the _Ya'Vang_. She knew that all of the work-outs were to try to ensure that when the Jem'Hadar boarded the next time that she would still be able to handle herself.

M'jaK had hoped that he would have been able to have found another assignment for his niece and have her transferred off of his ship before being sent back out to the front-lines. Unfortunately he couldn't find another commander that had been willing to deal when they learned the officer in question, despite the favorable service record, was a Betazoid. Now his ship was heading toward the front line once more without being unburdened of its sole non-Klingon crew member. As such, that meant that he'd felt that he needed to train K'nera even harder to ensure that she would have her best chance at surviving should they be boarded by the Jem'Hadar in the near future.

M'jaK brought his weapon down and was glad to see that his training of his niece had not been for nothing. Her skill with the bat'leth was improving (though it would never be on par with a Klingon member of the crew) which left M'jaK feeling quite proud of his niece. He suspected that she had been putting in some extra practice with some of the other crew which showed in her improving prowess with the blade. It really was a shame that she wasn't a Klingon. Still, he'd be a lot happier if she wasn't on his ship when they reached the front lines again.


	10. X

K'nera finished her morning meditation and blew out the small candles that she'd had lit in the center of the small quarters that she shared with DedaJ. K'nera had made sure to be up and ready for the day sooner than she usually did since DedaJ had worked the night rotation. She was bound to be back to their quarters at any time to get some sleep so K'nera decided to head out before she returned. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy spending time with her bunk-mate and friend. She did. It was just that lately the only thing she spoke about was who had paired off with whom on board. That or about the various prospects of future pairings of some of the crew.

Truth be known, part of K'nera's aversion to the topic had a lot to do with Alexander. Several of the female members of the crew had begun to eye him now that he'd matured more since he'd first boarded the ship. He was by far one of the more attractive members of the crew and now that he was known more as T'knehzoR rather than Alexander he was no longer singled out as not being fully Klingon. K'nera had even seen a few of the female engineers flirt shamelessly with him up on the Mess Deck during the meals served there. True, to some extent, the flirting had been just a part of them being Klingon but K'nera was privy to their thoughts and knew that it had been a more conscious decision rather than habit. That was what had really bothered her.

K'nera supposed that she shouldn't really be jealous. After all, she'd been the one to make the decision to try not to show any outward sign of returning the emotions that she had sensed from Alexander in regards to how he felt about her. K'nera was well aware of the fact that any Klingon who would choose to become romantically involved with her would likely lose some level of respect from the rest of the crew. Or even from Klingon Society as a whole. She was not Klingon; she didn't even have a single drop of Klingon blood running through her veins. She was an outsider and always will be.

Alexander had started off as an outsider but he had slowly gained favor among the rest of the crew and had become one of them. K'nera couldn't bear the thought of being the cause of him losing his new-found standing among those of his own race simply because she shared his feelings. Instead she did her best to be his friend but nothing more.

K'nera left her quarters and figured that she'd get in a little exercise before the morning meal. She made her way to the Training Room and pushed the button to open the door just a fraction of a second before sensing that the room was already occupied. Of course there had been no way to prevent the door from opening at that point.

Inside, Alexander was already doing much the same thing that K'nera had planned to do this morning. He, too, was using his free time to hone his own fighting skills. He had improved a lot over the last year of service to the Empire but he knew that he still had some work to do if he wanted to be comparable to other warriors that had lived their whole lives among other Klingons. When he heard the door open behind him, Alexander turned and smiled when he saw K'nera. When he noticed that she was just standing in the doorway, he motioned K'nera on in.

"Well, yI'el. (Come in)"

K'nera stepped forward and walked over to the wall where bat'leths, mat'leths and other weapons hung on display within the training room. K'nera then joined Alexander and begun the typical warm-up moves that was customary to begin a training session.

"I haven't seen you much lately," Alexander moved into position to spar with K'nera as he spoke with a touch of humor in his voice. "I almost thought that you were avoiding me."

K'nera knew that Alexander meant it as a joke but he had no idea just how close to the mark his comment had been to the truth. Trying to keep up with the friendly banter, she smiled and parried both with her weapon and her words.

"I'm sure that my absences haven't even been noticed until I walked in here. After all," K'nera winked as she spoke, "listening to the way B'taLa tells it, you haven't had much time to notice much beyond her lately, anyway."

Alexander grimaced at the mention of the Klingon that was close to his age who had been assigned to the _Ya'Vang _since they had rejoined the Klingon Fleet after their departure from the Federation Forces shortly after the fall of Betazed. B'taLa had made it very clear that she was interested him; or at least interested in T'knehzoR, member of the Great House of Martok. Alexander sensed that she was a power-hungry woman whose only desire was to align herself with a strong house within the Empire. Martok's notoriety had grown throughout Klingon space during the war with the Dominion and with it, his influence as well. He had no doubt that the Klingon woman wouldn't have given him a second glance had he been introduced to her as Alexander, the son of Worf.

"And here I thought that you could tell when others are flat out lying to you."

Alexander brought his bat'leth up to clash with K'nera's own blade but found himself pulling back slightly on it to keep from ending their sparring match too soon. In truth, Alexander has had to hold back on his strength for the last couple of months while practicing with K'nera as both his skill and strength surpassed his friend's. Still, sparring with K'nera had shown him that it wasn't always strength or skill that determined the outcome of a battle. When K'nera knew that she couldn't defeat an opponent through fighting alone, she would often out-think them instead. She was good at keeping him on his toes.

"That woman isn't exactly my type and I've tried to convince her of that repeatedly; though if it's just the name of Martok that she wants to be associated with, maybe I should send her Drex's way."

"You wouldn't?" K'nera couldn't suppress her amusement at thought. "I didn't think that you could be that devious. But considering his attitude towards you, I could certainly see the appeal of doing so. Though I'm sure that there are plenty of women on board that will be pleased to hear that you have no interest in B'taLa."

K'nera laughed as she spun around to jump a bit further away from his weapon before trying to advance with her own blade. K'nera pushed up on her bat'leth against Alexander's and lost her footing as he pulled back suddenly. He then used the back side of his weapon to knock her off of her feet before pinning her to the deck. Alexander grinned as he leaned over K'nera and put a hand on her bat'leth and tossed it just out of her reach.

"I'm not concerned with the other women on the ship or their opinions of who I have an interest in."

He had been toying with the idea of acting on his feelings for K'nera ever since he had spoken with Ambassador Troi. Still, he had been reluctant since she had yet to give any indication that she either returned his feelings or if she only considered him a friend and nothing more. Alexander eventually decided that if she didn't, she would have said something before now since, as Lwaxana had stated, K'nera must already know how he felt anyway. Trying to hide his feelings for a telepath was pretty pointless so why try?

"Is that so?" K'nera swallowed hard as she realized that Alexander was now willing to be bold about his feelings for her. Despite knowing them already and deciding that she couldn't allow him to toss his future within the Empire away just for her, she had yet to figure out just how to deny her own feelings for him in return. How could she refute the fact that she, too, only had eyes for him and it irked her like nothing else that when the other women on board were so flamboyant in their pursuit of him?

"Nope. I'm only interested in you and your opinions." Alexander had released his own bat'leth and brought a hand up to move some of K'nera's blond hair out of her face as he felt himself drawn deeper into her pitch black eyes. On some level, he swore that he could almost sense what she felt. It was as if he could hear her inner turmoil with herself. She returned his feelings, he was sure of it, but something was holding her back.

"Alex-"

K'nera words and thoughts were cut short as Alexander leaned forward, silencing her lips with his own. Any words or thoughts on how Alexander shouldn't look for a relationship with her died without ever being spoken. After only a moment of hesitation, K'nera returned the kiss with as much vigor as Alexander shown. The two were completely lost in the simple act of returning the affection that they felt for one another; an affection that both had denied for months which only caused the fire that burned just below the surface to become much hotter. As if it had been stoked by the mere denial of its existence.

Suddenly, both K'nera and Alexander were jolted as the ship itself began to rock from a hit to the starboard bow. The two remained stunned for another moment before they jumped up and instinctively grabbed their weapons as the alarm was sounded to signal an intruder alert.

When the pair stepped out of the training room, they ran headlong into a group of Jem'Hadar. As one, they moved to intercept the reptilian aliens from venturing further into the ship. Alexander raised his bat'leth and began to attack the closest of the warriors. The squad fought back with the same single-mindedness that they were known for. As he dispatched one Jem'Hadar, another brought his own weapon down, tearing into the armor and flesh of his left arm, biting back a howl of anger and pain, Alexander returned the assault with just as much fierceness while trying to keep tabs of how K'nera was fairing with her own opponent despite the fact that she was the more experienced fighter.

By the time he had downed the third opponent, Alexander glanced back at K'nera just as she was run through by one of the remaining Jem'Hadar. When the blade from the kar'takin was pulled free, both Alexander and K'nera herself watched as her blood dripped from it before her eyes rolled back into her head. K'nera's knees then buckled beneath her as Alexander saw her fall to the deck where she then lain motionless. With only a fraction of a second to be shocked before the remaining Jem'Hadar resumed his attack, Alexander lashed back at him with a level of both anger and hatred that he'd never felt before.

Just as the Klingon reinforcements arrived, the final slain alien fell to the wayside. Ignoring the newly arrived comrades, as well as the continued sounds of alarm, Alexander rushed to K'nera's side and checked to see if she was still breathing. She was alive, but barely. Blood was pouring out of the wound at an alarming rate. Without even stopping to think about it, Alexander scooped K'nera up and proceeded straight to the Medical Ward. The Jem'Hadar or procedures be damned.

* * *

In the main bridge, M'jaK watched as the Jem'Hadar ship vaporized after the Romulan ship that had responded to the _Ya'Vang's_ call for assistance fired upon it. Immediately, the captain of the crippled Klingon ship called for a status check of the ship's functions as well as a list of all wounded and dead. As the reports started to come in, the captain of the Romulan ship conveyed his willingness to offer further aid, should it be needed. M'jaK was sure that the man was taking great pleasure at being the saviors of the outmatched Bird of Prey and could barely keep himself from growling out his gratitude.

After being notified that the War Bird would be standing by pending the status of the wounded ship, M'jaK shifted his attention to the reports pouring in from all around the ship. As he scanned the report that had been sent up from the Medical Ward, M'jaK's eyes fell to one name that he always looked for first before any other. With his brows creased, he finished reading the list before ensuring that his crew knew their jobs as they tried to get the ship back up and running. At least well enough so that he would not have to ask for the Romulans to give them a tow to the nearest star base. With that done, M'jaK then left the bridge in the capable hands of his First Officer who likely knew without asking just where the ship's captain was headed.

As M'jaK neared the Medical Ward, he expected to hear his niece's voice complaining of yet another trip to the ship's on board facility but instead what he heard was the voice of one that he had yet to hear being raised in anger at anyone. Standing next to the aged Klingon doctor was his newly promoted Weapons Officer, T'knehzoR (as he preferred to be called now). He was demanding that the doctor return to the small room that he'd just come out of and do anything that he could to save K'nera.

Catching sight of the Betazoid, the Captain saw the reason for Alexander's distress. On the small metal rack in the tiny room that served as an operating room, lay his brother's adoptive daughter. She was motionless and M'jaK couldn't even tell if she was still breathing. It was clear that she'd been run through with the blade of a Jem'Hadar Warrior and it was unlikely that she could survive an injury like that even with the best medical care. Unfortunately, Klingons were not known for their expertise in the medical field. In cases as severe as K'nera's, it was common practice to allow nature to take its course and to move on to the next patient. A practice that was clearly rubbing the young weapons officer raw.

"This isn't a Federation Starship, Boy," the doctor scowled as he moved to go around the younger man. "We don't have the resources to deal with injuries like hers. Now step as-"

"Then put her in stasis so she can go somewhere that DOES have the resources to deal with her kind of injuries!" Alexander couldn't understand the willingness to let someone who could be saved just die for no real good reason.

"It's not as simple as that. Even if she was put in stasis, there is no guarantee that she'd live."

"But there is a guarantee that she won't if you do nothing!"

From his vantage point, M'jaK was surprised at the passion that Alexander displayed on his niece's behalf. He knew that the man had different opinions in regarding death, honorable or otherwise, but the sheer amount of anger took him by surprise. Especially from one who had never shown himself to have the more typical hot-blooded Klingon temper that others of the crew had.

"Listen, Boy, there is no reason to subject her to a futile effort to try to save her life at this point. She fell in battle. To die as a result of her injuries would an honorable death, one worthy of entrance to Stovokor; to deny her that is not exactly a very Klingon thing to do."

M'jaK knew that the doctor was right, and his brother would likely feel the same way once given the news of the day's battle but it was still not a report that he looked forward to giving his older sibling. Stepping forward, M'jaK figured that he would likely hear about his decision but it was his to make at the moment.

"True, but as much as we may have wanted to think of her as one of us, K'nera is not a Klingon." The doctor and Alexander both looked up from their argument at the sound of their captain's apparent agreement with the younger man. "Prepare her for stasis. I'll have the Romulans transport her to the nearest field hospital."

"Sir?" the doctor asked questioningly.

"You heard me." M'jaK scowled at the impertinence of the doctor. "We will be doing good to get our impulse engines back up within the next couple of hours and I don't particularly care to have a War Bird circling around us as if just waiting to pick our bones clean. Sending her by way of the Romulans will take care of both of our problems at one time. Now get to it."

"Yes sir," the doctor said grudgingly before returning to the small cubicle where he'd left K'nera only moments prior.

M'jaK then eyed the dried blood that shown where Alexander had been injured during his confrontation with the Jem'Hadar before making his way with the fallen Betazoid to the Medical Ward. It was clear that he hadn't taken notice of it and it didn't seem to have hindered his young Weapons Officer so he ordered him to take his station. The more severely wounded would take priority before he would be treated and it was clear that he and the doctor needed some time apart for now anyway.

Alexander stiffened slightly at the order since he wasn't quite ready to leave K'nera. Still, he had to trust that his Captain (K'nera's uncle) was doing what was best for her and the ship's crew as a whole. Alexander did not trust Romulans anymore than his father but now he had no choice but to hope that he would soon be in their debt should they succeed in saving the woman that he'd only today taken a chance to act on his feelings for. With a quick glance into the room where she was being prepared for transport, Alexander acknowledged the order before turning to head out of the Medical Ward. All the while, trying to figure out just what star base K'nera would be sent to.


	11. XI

It had been a long day at the station; one that will go down in the Klingon Empire's history as being a great day. On this day, Gowran's corrupt rule had finally been brought to an end and a more honorable man had taken his place. One worthy of the high office of Chancellor. At long last, Worf had hope that his people would be able to return to the old ways of the Empire. The ways that had been lost by wayward politicians and power hungry underlings. He looked forward to the day when the Empire regains its former glory.

Hours after leaving the newly instated Chancellor in his quarters, Worf scanned over the transmission logs for the day as he looked for any potential threats to the station. As he did so, he noticed that once again, he found that a member of the crew whom he would not have expected had been in contact with a Klingon Warship. Had the log indicated that the individual on the ship had contacted Martok, Worf would have understood but instead his son had been conversing with another on space station and it wasn't him.

Leaving the data pad on his desk in his quarters, Worf headed toward the Habitat Ring to speak with that unlikely individual who has been in contact with Alexander. Once there, he watched as the station's doctor headed away from Worf's destination. Despite his encouragement to Ezri about her pursuit of the doctor, it still was not easy to witness their dance of a courtship advancing. He knew that if the two that still behaved much like children themselves ever actually became open with one another about their feelings, his discomfort will likely only grow.

After waiting for an extra moment to allow Bashir to reach the lift at the other end of the corridor, Worf stalked over to Ezri's door and signaled his arrival.

"Did you forget someth-" Ezri came up short when she realized that it was Worf at her door rather than Julian. "Worf. I wasn't expecting you. Is something wrong?"

"That is what I came here to ask you," Worf let out an aggravated breath.

"Why would anything be wrong?" Ezri asked confused.

"According to the transmission logs, you have been in touch with my son. Most recently, this morning and then again just after the evening meal. Care to share what is going on?"

"You've been keeping track of who I speak with over subspace?"

"I keep track of ALL transmissions that go in or out of this station. Its security is my job." Worf suspected that she may see through his explanation but he didn't care about that for now. "About my son?"

"Alexander and I have enjoyed speaking with one another ever since I first contacted him to let him know that I was staying on the station. I didn't want to take him by surprise or anything if he came back here. That's all."

"That is not all. In the previous months, you've only had contact on average of once every one and a half to two weeks. Today, alone, you have spoken to him twice. Between those two transmissions, you also had contact with several within both the Romulan Empire and at Starfleet Medical."

Ezri crossed her arms as she leaned against the frame of her door and scowled. "Is this an interrogation, Worf?"

"I am concerned about my son and right now, it would seem that you are the only one that can tell me what is going on," Worf belted out before catching his own tone and realizing that Dax would be less willing to tell him what he wished to know if he continued to speak so harshly. "Please, about Alexander?"

"Actually, you would know what is going on with him if you ever bothered to contact him for yourself. If you did, you would know that he usually goes by T'knehzoR while serving within the Empire now."

"T'knehzoR?"

"It keeps him from being singled out as not being fully Klingon," Ezri explained. "Only his closest friends still call him Alexander, and only in private."

"I see," Worf muttered as he tried to picture the same boy that grew up wanting to embrace his human heritage while at the same time casting that of his Klingon ancestors aside as being the same one who now served aboard a Klingon Warship and now went by his Klingon name. "I had not anticipated that he'd go to such measures while serving within the Empire; though it does seem wise."

"I believe one of his friends on the _Ya'Vang_ gave him the suggestion."

"But about this morning…" Worf knew that the _Ya'Vang_ had been crippled shortly before the first transmission to the station. The fact that his son had been able to contact Ezri told him that he, himself, was well. What Worf didn't understand was why he would have contacted her after the attack on the Klingon ship in the first place. Nor why he had not reached out to him instead if he needed information that only a Starfleet Officer could give him, as Ezri's other transmissions seemed to indicate.

"One of his friends, the one that suggested that he use his Klingon name while on a Klingon ship, was injured this morning and was sent to Starbase thirty-one by way of a Romulan War Bird. He thought that I could gain information on his friend's condition."

"I am surprised that the captain of the _Ya'Vang_ would send a fallen Klingon Warrior to a Federation base," Worf then sneered as he added, "especially by way of a Romulan ship."

Ezri bit her lip as she considered what she was about to tell Worf. Alexander had made no attempt to ask her to hide his relationship with K'nera but that may simply be because the idea that his father would ask had never occurred to him.

"He didn't. The wounded warrior that the captain sent off to the starbase was actually a Betazoid."

Worf's eyes bugged out at the news. "A Betazoid serving on a Klingon ship?"

"Worf, you may want to come in. There are a few more things that you might want to know about what has been going on in recent months." Ezri stepped aside to make way for him enter his quarters.

* * *

Alexander stared up at the ceiling and listened to the ship's engines. He'd been trying to sleep for the last four hours as Ch'Targh snored loudly on the other side of the small crewmen quarters. The fact that he was still wide awake spoke of just how much success his attempts had been met with.

Hours earlier, Ezri had contacted him to let him know what she'd learned after he sought her help in learning of K'nera's fate once she was transported into Federation Space. She had told him that while she couldn't access K'nera's medical records; she did learn that after nearly six hours in surgery K'nera had survived. He'd heard much the same from Deanna when he'd contacted her on the _Enterprise._

Alexander knew that his captain would have more information but he was unwilling to go to him for his answers just yet. K'nera was his niece and if he found Alexander to be wanting as a Klingon he could deem him unfit to seek a romantic relationship with her. After all, he was a hybrid that in many respects still showed his lack of extensive knowledge of Klingon cultures and rituals. Not only that but the House of K'maj'ik was a well-respected house where as the House of his father had been dishonored several times over. The only redeeming thing about his own family's honor had been the fact that General Martok had accepted both his father and himself into his family.

If he went to M'jaK to ask about K'nera, Alexander would likely have to tell him why he was so concerned. Though to be honest, he suspected that the man already knew considering his behavior toward the doctor when he had been so willing to just allow K'nera to die from her injuries. Still, that was one conversation that he'd like to post-pone as long as possible.

Tiring of lying on his rack while knowing that sleep would not come; Alexander got up and headed out of his shared quarters. He then headed up to the deck that held the Training Room; the same room that he'd gone to only a day prior to work on his still lacking skills before the start of his shift. It was also the same room that he'd been in when he'd finally worked up the courage to actually act on his long-held feelings for K'nera.

Standing in the room, Alexander felt more connected to her somehow. It was as if he could reach out and touch her while in this room. After a moment of quiet meditation, Alexander took up a bat'leth and began to put himself through the traditional paces of training with the weapon. The whole while, he replayed the events of the previous morning in his mind. From the moment that K'nera had joined him in the room, to the kiss, to when the Jem'Hadar had attacked the ship and ultimately nearly killed her right before his eyes. Seeing K'nera bloodied and still had sent him briefly back in time to when it had been a different woman for whom he cared deeply.

Had his father felt the same rage upon finding K'Ehleyr dying after Duras had attacked her while she was stationed aboard the _Enterprise_? Alexander always had a hard time connecting his parents together; not surprising considering that he'd witnessed so little of their interactions together. It had literally been days from the time that he'd first met his father before his mother had been killed. Still, Worf had shown a level of emotion that day that few had ever seen from him.

When K'Ehleyr died, Alexander had witnessed her death as a small, scared little boy; a son and he had reacted as such. Now, years later, he had nearly watched another die for whom he cared just as deeply for though on a different level. Someone that Alexander could see himself falling fully and totally in love with if given the chance.

Lost in his thoughts, Alexander did not notice when the door to the training room opened. It took several moments for him to look up and realize that the captain was watching him.

"Captain," Alexander pulled up short in surprise.

M'jaK acknowledged him in return, "yaS T'knehzoR."

It still was a thing of honor for Alexander every time he heard someone refer to him as an officer. When he'd first come aboard the _Ya'Vang_, he'd been a lowly Bekk. Being made an officer on the ship had been the highlight of his life aboard the Klingon vessel.

"Can I help you? I wasn't expecting anyone up here at this early hour."

"Nor was I," M'jaK walked further into the Training Room as he indicated towards the hand that held Alexander's bat'leth. "You carry your dominate hand too low at times. You should watch that."

"I'll keep that in mind." Self-consciously, Alexander moved to put the weapon back in its place on the wall among the other blades. "Well, I should leave you to your morning exercises."

"Not just yet, T'knehzoR," Captain M'jaK held up a hand to stop the young weapons officer. "I have word on K'nera and suspected that you would like to know how she has fared. After all, had it not been for your insistence, she would not have been sent to the starbase. She would have died here, instead."

"I… uh… I just don't like the idea of a needless death."

"So it seems," he couldn't help the snicker that slipped out at his officer's expense. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't been raised to honor Klingon values. No matter how much he has worked on altering his perspective on certain subjects, it can take a lifetime to succeed in doing so. "In any case, Dr. Zyctalir has assured me that she will make a full recovery."

"So she'll return to the ship soon?" Alexander asked hopefully.

"No, once she has been cleared for duty, which I don't see happening anytime in the near future, she will be assigned to the Betazoid refugee camp on Talceus Prime."

"The refugee camp?"

"There are few officers that are comfortable with being stationed there. With her being Betazoid, it seemed like a logical placement." M'jaK had only hoped that he'd considered the camp as a possible safer assignment before K'nera had been injured so severely in the battle the day before. "It will be best that way. Surely you of all people know just how unwise it is for an alien to serve aboard a Klingon ship at this point in time."

And he did. The same xenophobic hostilities that he had worked hard to dispel from his own direction had often been cast in K'nera's path as well, perhaps even more so. At times, he knew that there were those on the ship that would have just assumed to learn that he was dead after a battle with the Jem'Hadar. Alexander had also noticed that the only thing that had protected K'nera from some of the same hostilities had been the fact that her uncle was the captain of the ship.

In recent weeks, as Alexander had gained a level of standing among the crew, he had not been unaware of the fact that K'nera's own position had been declining with the majority of them. Alexander suspected that with the increase of losses on the front-lines so increased the belief that the war would be over with the Dominion already if only it had been the Klingon Empire that had led the charge rather than yielding to the Federation. K'nera's pale hair and skin had served as beacons for some of the crew's hatred and animosity.

"I understand," Alexander hated to admit it but after a brief consideration, he was glad that she would be out of harm's way. Even if that did mean that he couldn't be with her. He did, however, plan to contact her as quickly as he could. They had a lot to talk about, mainly how they felt about one another. A conversation that would be best if done in person but given the war and their separate posts now, that might not be possible for a while.

M'jaK studied the man before him for a moment as he tried to decipher just what he was thinking about before speaking up once more. "There is one more thing that I think that you should be aware of, T'knehzoR. Something that you should be made aware of since it will impact your life within the Empire."

Alexander gave his captain a questioning look. He wondered if it had anything to do with his feelings for the man's niece. "Sir?"

"Word has just gone out across the Empire. Gowran is dead."

"Dead? I wasn't aware that the Chancellor's ship was on the front-lines."

"It wasn't. He was at Deep Space Nine," M'jaK paused as he eyed Alexander. "Your father challenged him and won."

Alexander's brows furled as he let what the captain was saying to him sink in. "Then who leads the Empire now? I assume that the Council will name someone to take Gowran's place quickly considering that we are in the middle of a war."

"Traditionally, the victor of such a challenge has the right to claim that honor."

"My father is no politician. Nor does he seek power for himself, Captain."

"Apparently not, after killing Gowran, he named Martok as the new Chancellor in his stead."

"Martok..."

"Yes, a fine choice in my opinion. He is a wise General and is an excellent tactician. The war just might go in our favor now with him at the helm of the Empire." M'jaK knew that many within the military felt the same way. He hoped that his faith in the man wouldn't be for nothing. It felt so strange to have possibly the most hated man in the Empire to be responsible for the Empire's new ruler. "Of course, this means that you are now a member of the Ruling House of the Klingon Empire."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means, as a security measure, you should think about being transferred to a better equipped ship with a crew whose loyalties to both Martok and yourself can be assured."

* * *

K'nera was aware of the medical staff long before she opened her eyes. The first thing that she realized was that none of them were Klingon. In fact, she couldn't sense a single Klingon aboard whatever ship or station that she was now on which meant that she was no longer aboard the _Ya'Vang._ Instead of the presence of those that she would have expected, K'nera sensed Bolians, Humans, Vulcans, Romulans, as well as several other species that she had rare occasions to actually meet.

The absence of any of the people who had taken her in as an orphan and raised her was a stark reality for her. Especially since she had not left the Empire behind since she was a small child. Even during the war, K'nera had constantly been in the presence of at least a hundred Klingons at any given time. With the _Ya'Vang_ being such a large ship, having hundreds of Klingon Warriors at the ready had become a normal part of life; as well as sifting through their thoughts and emotions.

Reaching out, K'nera tried to sense one particular Klingon only to discover that just as with the others, that Klingon was no longer aboard the ship or station either. That is assuming that he'd ever been there in the first place.

Off to the side, K'nera heard one of the medical personnel comment that she was waking up. She then felt someone standing over her and run a scan. The doctor, a Bolian, finished running yet another test before she finally spoke up.

"It is pointless to keep your eyes close. I am aware that you are awake," the doctor tapped her tricorder as she finished checking K'nera's vitals as she spoke. "Please, tell me how you are feeling."

"Like I've just been trampled by a herd of wild targs."

K'nera fought a wince as she tried to shift her weight on the bio-bed before opening her eyes. It appeared that she was in a Federation Sick-Bay by the looks of the equipment that lined the unit. She was the only patient in the bay which likely was the reason for her nurse and doctor discovering her consciousness so early. Had there been other patients that needed their care K'nera would have been able to get a better grasp of where she was before they had come to check on her.

"Where am I?" K'nera gave the doctor an examining look as she spoke. The woman appeared to be aged but the young Betazoid was not familiar enough with her species to determine her more precise age. Around the room, the majority of the medical staff were Human but the lone Bolian in the room was clearly in charge of the facility.

"You are in a field hospital that the Federation has set up just behind the front-lines of the war with the Dominion near Bolian space."

Looking down at herself, K'nera remembered the battle with the Jem'Hadar. She could still feel the blade that the warrior had welded being thrust into her just before hearing Alexander's anguished cry. For a second, the kiss that they'd shared just moments before the _Ya'Vang _was attacked flitted through her memory. It had been a moment that she'd tried to prevent yet was glad that it had happened; a memory that was bound to put a smile on her face for a long time.

With eyes flashing open wide, K'nera then began to wonder what had happened. Alexander. She had no idea just what had happened after she had lost consciousness during the attack. The two of them had been out-numbered and the corridor in front of the Training Room had not been the only breach in the ship's defense systems. The fact that she couldn't sense any of her fellow crewmen now worried her a great deal. Just how is it that she had come to the Bolian system in the first place?

Dr. Zyctalir put a hand on K'nera's shoulder to settle her as vital signs spiked. "Settle back down. I'm afraid that you won't be going anywhere for a while."

"What of the others on the ship? What happened to them? How did I get here?"

"You were the only patient sent here; though I do have word from your captain to alert him of your condition. As to how you got here, you were brought by way of a Romulan War Bird."

"The Romulans?"

"That's all the information that I have on just what happened before you were brought here. I'm sure that your captain will be able to answer your other questions but that will have to wait until the morning."

The doctor gave K'nera a hypospray before she could ask any further questions. And questions she had plenty of. Like why had her uncle sent her to a field hospital on a Romulan ship? If she had been injured so badly, why hadn't she just been allowed to die? That was the Klingon way, after all. But perhaps the most important question on her mind was,_ What had happened to Alexander?_


	12. XII

Lor'vah, a strong Klingon who had fought and lived through many battles, listened to his younger brother as he gave a report of the attack on the _Ya'Vang_ as well as the injuries that his daughter had sustained while fighting off the Jem'Hadar. It was not the first time that he'd been contacted with similar reports in the last year since K'nera had been assigned to the ship. It was, however, the first time that the news had been quite so dire. Once the official business was completed, Lor'vah then moved his brother in the direction of more private matters; matters that he could discuss as his brother and the uncle of K'nera rather than a ship's captain or her commanding officer.

Lor'vah found the part about one of his brother's crew members being the one who had insisted that K'nera should be sent off of the ship for treatment to be of a particular interest to him. Add that to the fact that M'jaK had already shared his suspicions in previous transmissions that he thought that the man held some affection for his daughter and now he was more than just a bit curious about him. After all, few Klingons had yet to really express an interest in K'nera as of yet due to the fact that she was not really a Klingon.

Inter-species relationships were still frowned upon by the vast majority of the Klingon race. While Lor'vah had not faced any opposition in caring for K'nera when she was orphaned, it was clear that she could never really be fully accepted in the Klingon Society. Not only was she not a Klingon but she was a telepath as well, a second black mark against her.

Of course Lor'vah had thought that when she had been on Celyn Four she had found an individual who had been willing to overlook both of those issues. He had been one of the telepaths that call the planet their home and had been in the mist of jak'tahla when K'nera had been there last just before joining the KDF. In the end, however, he had chosen to end the relationship with the young, teen-aged K'nera in favor of one that his family would be more supportive of instead. That had given K'nera her first taste of a broken heart and showed her just how difficult it would be to find one among the Klingons who would overlook both the fact that she was not Klingon by blood and the fact that she was an advanced Betazoid.

Hearing of the man who was now under his brother's command and how he had been quite emotional in regards to K'nera's treatment made Lor'vah now wonder about the young weapons' officer. He asked M'jaK about him and waited as his brother tried to decide just how to describe him.

"He is… an unusual young man," M'jaK finally said. "He looks fully Klingon but he has the heart of a Human. It is my understanding that his mother was half-Human and raised him as one even before her death after which his father continued much in the same way. In fact, I doubt that he'd spent much time among other Klingons prior to his enlistment into the Klingon Defense Forces."

"Why is that?"

"T'knehzoR is the son of Worf, the son of Mogh."

"Worf?" Lor'vah inhaled deeply as he leaned back into his chair. "A Starfleet Officer… A man who has refused to live among his own kind but repeatedly has had an influence on the politics of the Empire. How ironic. He is even responsible for our latest change of power from one Chancellor to another according to the stories being told about what has transpired on Deep Space Nine."

"Yet according to his son, Worf has no desire for power for himself. Instead it would appear that he is driven by something else entirely. Though I do find that hard to believe," M'jaK said with a snicker. "In recent years, Worf has gone from being the head of a newly re-instated House in the Empire after years of dishonor to once again falling out of favor with Gowran and losing all of his honor once more. He backed the Federation when Gowran pulled from the Khitomer Accords. He betrayed his people and proved that when it really matters, he is a Starfleet Officer first.

And yet, now he backs Martok. He seems to be more willing to work alongside the Federation while fighting against the Dominion than Gowran had but his record shows that he is loyal to the Empire and a successful general. He has even taken Worf and his son into his House, which makes them both members of the Ruling House of the Klingon Empire."

Lor'vah stroked his beard as he considered what his brother had told him. If this T'knehzoR spent his formative years among Humans and others within the Federation then it would explain his apparent acceptance of a potential relationship with an alien. Still, Humans weren't exactly known for fidelity which, as a father, concerned Lor'vah. Of course, now that his daughter was no longer on the _Ya'Vang_ any longer, such concerns weren't likely needed anymore. Should there come a time once again that his daughter could entertain a possible relationship with the unusual young man, there was one more thing that bothered him.

From what he had heard, Martok's wife has never held any love for non-Klingons. He wondered how Sirella took to the knowledge that one of the new members of her House was a hybrid. For one whose House heralds from the Ketha Lowlands Lor'vah has always found her to be very prideful, even aristocratic in her behavior; a great contradiction for the actual homeland of the House of Martok. He supposed now that she is the Lady of the Ruling House of the Empire; such high opinions of herself will only heighten.

Lor'vah has heard that she has never cared for off-worlders very much. Having Worf and his son brought into her House couldn't have made her very pleased. This meant that even if the young yaS turned out to be a good match for his daughter there was still the Lady of the House to contend with.

As much as he hated the fact that his daughter had been so severely wounded, Lor'vah was beginning to wonder if it wasn't for the best. She will be sent to the Betazoid Refugee Camp to work once she is healed. There K'nera will be exposed to others of her own kind for the first time in almost two decades. Perhaps even find a man who could accept her for who she really is; a powerful telepath who had been raised by Klingons. Such an arrangement would be the best thing for her.

* * *

Alexander stared at the view screen while sitting at his station more out of wanting to avoid the odd glances that he knew were being sent his way than for any real need to concentrate on the panel. The ship had finally been repaired enough to go to Warp Two and was on its way to the nearest shipyard for further repairs. The _Ya'Vang_ was now deeper in Klingon space so the likelihood of finding an actual target on the weapons' computer screen was slim at best. Still, he felt strange knowing that his newly raised status within the Empire now caused much of the crew to eye him differently; more so than they had already begun to as Martok gained notoriety as an excellent general.

The moment that the news of the previous night's events spread throughout the ship, those who had already begun to treat him differently as Martok's fame had grown redoubled their efforts in regards to him this morning. It seemed that besides the captain, only his few friends from the _Rotarran _had not changed their treatment of him. Perhaps that was because they had seen him through the roughest times of his adjustment to living in the Empire and because they have met Martok when he was a general without the fame that he'd gained after his imprisonment in a Dominion Internment Camp. His friends knew the man, not just the legend.

It was those men and women that Alexander would hate to leave behind if he took the captain's suggestion and asked to be transferred to another ship. He had worked hard to earn the respect of Katogh, Koth, N'Garen, Doran, Kornan, Ortakin, and most of all, Ch'Targh. If he left the ship, he would feel as if he was throwing all of that hard work away. Theoretically, Alexander understood the captain's suggestion. In practice though, he felt that it would be best to remain where he was.

True, the remnants of R'njol's friends on board have remained a constant thing of concern for him at times and would likely continue to be so. If the ship could be removed of those few officers, Alexander couldn't see why he wouldn't be considered _SAFE_ just where he was. He wasn't Martok's family by blood like Drex so the_ Ya'Vang_ should make for a fine ship to remain on, despite its now wrecked condition. After a week or so in the shipyard, the _Ya'Vang _will be as good as new. Of course, all of that was providing the fact that Captain M'jaK wouldn't object to his continued presence on the ship.

* * *

M'jaK waited as he was forwarded to a view screen that would show his niece. Apparently, she was now awake and was eager to learn of the condition of the ship and the rest of its crew. Not only that, but she was already requesting to be returned to duty; claiming that she was fit to carry out her job aboard the ship now as if the attack from the day before had never even happened. That meant that he would have to inform her of her new assignment just a bit earlier than he'd planned.

When the screen returned to life, M'jaK was greeted by the sight of his adoptive niece trying to look much stronger than he knew she had to be feeling right now. He'd seen her hide too many injuries while growing up to not notice the symptoms. The strained look in her eyes, the way she held her posture, even by the way that K'nera would fix her gaze as she spoke. _Such a shame to have the heart of a Klingon yet lack the strength to follow it, _M'jaK thought to himself.

"Captain," K'nera tried to straighten her stance in her seat as she saw the connection had gone through. In doing so, she was forced to fight back a wince.

"Relax, you are not on duty," M'jak leaned back in his own chair as he spoke. "I am glad to hear that you will recover well from your injuries. How are you feeling now?"

"I'd be feeling better if the nurses didn't keep trying to give me Bolian Tonic Water. They claim that it calms the nerves of humanoids. My nerves are just fine. I only wish to leave so I can return to duty."

"Do not try to rush your treatment, K'nera. You are well aware of the fact that your system does not heal as rapidly as those of your friends and comrades. Even DedaJ will not return to duty for at least three days."

"DedaJ?" K'nera's brows furled in concern for her friend from the ship. "She was hurt as well?"

"Minor injuries by comparison, I assure you," M'jaK said knowing that the blond woman before him would be concerned for her friend on the ship at the mere mention of her being relieved of duty. "By the time that she is to return to duty the _Ya'Vang_ should be docked in the shipyard and awaiting repairs so she'll be more than ready before we face the Jem'Hadar once again."

"I'm glad to hear it." K'nera breathed a slight sigh of relief knowing that DedaJ would be fine but she still had no idea how Alexander had fared in the battle nor did she have any idea of just how to bring him up to her uncle. "So the rest of the crew are alright, I assume."

"We had a few casualties but not as many as we could have had." _If the Romulans hadn't arrived when they had_, M'jaK added only in thought. The fact that he owed his crew's lives to the Romulans irked the captain of the Klingon ship. "You nearly joined their numbers, K'nera."

"If I hadn't been sent here to the Bolian starbase," K'nera said for her uncle with an uneasy feeling in her stomach wondering just who had been among those killed by the Jem'Hadar. Still, this did give her an opportunity to find out the answers to some of the questions that she'd had since she'd first woke up after her surgery. "Why was I sent here in the first place, though, Uncle? I would have expected to be treated as any crew member on the ship, Klingon or not. What caused you to send me here?"

"You can thank two factors for that," M'jaK couldn't fight the chuckle that rose from his chest as he answered her. For most non-Klingons, such a question would seem strange but K'nera had been raised as a Klingon and knew and accepted their traditions and beliefs as her own. "One of which, I'll admit, was because it was the only way I knew to rid the surrounding space of the Romulan War Bird that was circling the _Ya'Vang_ like a Casnic Vulture."

"I'm glad that I could help," K'nera shook her head as she realized that her uncle found amusement in her question. "So what was the second factor? And don't tell me that you just felt sentimental at the time."

The Klingon snickered since it was a common thing for his niece to point out to him that he was indeed more sentimental than most would assume him to be. It was only her Betazoid traits that enabled her to see that part of him that he kept hidden from most others.

"The second factor goes by the name of T'knehzoR. It was at his insistence that I agreed to have the doctor place you in stasis and sent to Federation Space in an effort to treat your wounds."

"T'knehzoR…" Alexander; if he was the one who had fought for her to be sent off the ship then that had to mean that he was not severely wounded in the battle. Nor could he be among the casualties that her uncle had mentioned only moments ago.

"It would seem that your friendship with him has left quite an impression on him." M'jaK's laughter was renewed when he watched K'nera's pale face turn an unmistakable shade of red of embarrassment. He wasn't sure which he gained more entertainment from; watching his niece's discomfort in regards to the budding relationship with the young weapon's officer or the young man in question working over-time to not do anything that would be seen as a disgrace in the eyes of K'nera's familial representative. No, that wasn't right. Watching the young man under his command was more humorous than K'nera. It was clear that he intimidated the weapons' officer; he never had instilled an appropriate level of a fearful respect in his niece.

"I see…Well, I'm sure that he wouldn't have liked to witness anyone die of injuries that could be treated elsewhere. That's all."

"Of course it is," M'jaK said with a show of amusement in his eyes.

"Anyway," K'nera shifted uncomfortably as she moved to change the subject, "has Dr. Zyctalir informed you as to when I'll be allowed to return to the _Ya'Vang_?"

"You will need to allow your system to repair itself and recover before being returned to duty, K'nera," M'jaK repeated with authority. "Though you should know that when that does happen you've been reassigned; you won't be returning to the _Ya'Vang_."

"Reassigned? To where?"

"The Betazoid Refugee Camp on Talceus Prime. There are few Klingons who feel comfortable around the telepaths. With both your own abilities as well as your training at Celyn Four, you are the obvious choice to have stationed at the camp."

K'nera inhaled deeply. She understood the logic of having her stationed at the camp but that didn't make accepting the position any easier. Since her encounter with Ambassador Troi, along with the others that the_ Ya'Vang_ had rescued during the attack on the Betazoid home world, K'nera had begun to slowly explore her Betazoid heritage quite reluctantly. Of course she found it easier to do so in private than she did while being thrust out into the galaxy to do so. Yet, as an officer of the Klingon Defense Forces, K'nera couldn't refuse an order to be stationed on Talceus Prime. Still, she may not push to be released by her doctors any faster than they planned to on their own.

"Am I to assume that I will be stationed on Talceus Prime for the foreseeable future?"

"Yes," M'jaK said simply to negate any discussion over the assignment. "It is the hopes of all involved that this war will not last much longer. Once we have beaten down the Dominion and shown them the might of the Klingon Empire you will be able to put in for a different post. Perhaps even take a long over-due sabbatical within the mountains on Celyn Four."

K'nera briefly thought of her home away from home fondly. The terrain was harsh and the temperature was bitterly cold on the surface. The monks who had first settled the planet had chosen that planet on purpose. A planet that most Klingons would find distasteful on many levels thus left the small group of telepathic Klingons in peace. Below the surface, an entire sub-ecosystem had been devised over the years to make living there more comfortable for those that did brave the icy planet but life was still difficult there. As she thought of that home, K'nera also had the brief thought of wondering how Alexander would react to the small colony where she had learned to suppress her telepathic abilities when she was still very young.

For the next several minutes, K'nera and M'jaK spoke on a variety of topics, including the captain's latest conversation with the head of the House K'maj'ik (K'nera's adoptive father and M'jaK's older brother), Lor'vah. It was only after the transmission had been cut and K'nera was left in the silence of the recovery room that she'd been given as a room until her discharge is scheduled that it really sunk in. She would not likely see her friends, her uncle, or (most importantly) Alexander until after the end of the war with the Dominion.


	13. XIII

K'nera swallowed hard as she looked around her new post. It would be a simple assignment really. The refugees were mostly self-reliant and caused very little trouble. They were not prisoners of war; rather they were displaced allies who were to be treated as such. K'nera knew that her comrades would have been more comfortable with the former since Klingons in general prefer battle to peace. The small planet just within Klingon space had been designated to be the place of refuge for the few Betazoids that had been rescued during the attack on the Cyndriel system. Much like Celyn Four, the surface temperature was a bit cooler than Klingons preferred but unlike the planet that K'nera considered to be her home away from home, Talceus Prime did not require the inhabitants to live below the surface. Instead, both the refugees as well as the Klingons who were stationed there to protect them from future attacks by the Dominion all were bundled up to keep them warm from the bitter cold.

K'nera briefly spared a thought to wonder just what happened to the thousands of Betazoids who were not as lucky as the ones here on Talceus Prime. From what she had heard about the Dominion, the Founders didn't do anything without at least one hidden agenda. There were other systems that the Dominion could have captured that would have put them in a position to invade Earth just as they were now. So why did they decide to capture Betazed?

K'nera adjusted her small bag of personal belongings and headed toward the bunker that served as the living quarters for the Klingons stationed at the camp. As K'nera approached the guard who was stationed outside she could feel the disdain in the man's eyes. The same disdain that she'd often felt throughout her life; especially when she lived on the Klingon Homeworld. It had been a constant in her life for longer than she could remember. Even on her uncle's ship, that disdain had followed her in her day-to-day life. Not only could K'nera feel the emotion that the man didn't even bother to try to hide but she could hear his thoughts as well. Thoughts that only echoed the ones she had heard from the minds of others when she was first stationed on the _Ya'Vang_.

With her eyes and shoulders set, K'nera walked boldly up to the Klingon and handed over the datapad that had her orders on it and waited for him to check the information on his own tablet. Once her orders were confirmed the man grudgingly allowed her entrance into the bunker. She then headed to the office that was indicated to her and left the grumbling Klingon behind in favor of many more as she passed them by on her way to meet with her new commanding officer.

When K'nera finally reached her destination she was met with an aging, portly, older man who had seen better days. K'nera remained at attention as the man reviewed her orders as well as her service record; mainly to keep her standing and waiting a bit longer to see how she would react to the lack of regard for her or her discomfort of the meeting. When he finally spoke, there was no need to use telepathy to discern just how he felt about having an alien under his command.

"K'nera, _daughter_ of Lor'vah of the House of K'maj'ik. Your very presence here is an insult to me and my men. This bunker was to be our refuge away from your kind. I don't appreciate having an alien thrust at me and forced to have put under my command."

"Sir, in all things that matter, tlhIngan jIH!" (Literally, "Klingon I AM!") K'nera narrowed her eyes as she spoke. "I have chosen to serve the Empire just as any of the others who are under your command; as my record can attest to."

"But you are NOT Klingon! It was foolish for the Academy on Qo'noS to allow a **Betazoid** entrance while there were still so many loyal Klingons clamoring for the opportunity to enlist." Vagh practically spat out the word Betazoid as he spoke. "No doubt a favor for your _father_." K'nera opened her mouth as if to respond to the claim only to be spoken over by the commander. "Such favors will not be extended to you here. My men come to this bunker to get away from you telepaths and I will not have them forced to endure the presence of a mind-reader during their off hours. Instead, when you are not on duty, I will expect you to promptly leave the facility. Quarters will be assigned to you within the city where the refugees are living. Is that understood?"

K'nera worked her jaw as she gave a solid, "Yes Sir," in return. In the back of her mind, she thought that it was probably a good thing that Admiral Vagh couldn't read HER mind. If he could, he likely would have had her executed then and there for insubordination.

* * *

K'nera left the bunker and made her way to the building more than two kilometers away where her quarters that she had been assigned were located in. As she walked down the frigid street in her Klingon attire, she could feel the eyes of curious Klingons and Betazoids alike. The Klingons snickered at the image of a Humanoid wearing the clothing of a Klingon Warrior and the Betazoids were confused. Many sent out questioning probes of thoughts to which K'nera promptly blocked as she continued to her quarters while avoiding the glances of the other telepaths yet staring down the Klingons at the same time. To look away from them would be a mistake. Any sign of weakness from her would surely be exploited and acted upon.

Once K'nera reached the designated building, she accessed her door and quickly slipped in before allowing the door to slide shut behind her. She then took in the room that would be her new home for the forseeable future. It reflected the same sparseness that she would expect from a Klingon facility. Particularly one that was to house troops. K'nera hadn't expected the Empire to furnish elaborate apartments for the refugees and she hadn't been disappointed.

She did, however, notice that a small Federation issue personal replicator was stationed on the far wall which she supposed had been sent by Starfleet to provide for the needs of its citizens while guests on the Klingon Outpost. Should any of the refugees wish to decorate their small abodes could do so using the replicators. K'nera was used to living with only the necessities to sustain her so she doubted that she, herself, would be using the replicator for anything other than simple clothing or food but judging by the attire that she'd seen some of the other Betazoids wearing as she walked from the Klingon bunker to the refugee city others had certainly made full use of their ability to indulge in some of the finer things of life. Even out here in the middle of no where. In addition to the replicator that had been installed in the wall, the only furniture that made up the accommodations of the room were a personal table, a solitary chair and a metal rack that would serve as her bunk. The room itself was not much larger than the head on a warship but it was enough to serve any needs that she might have.

K'nera walked over to the table and put her bag down before sitting in the lone chair. She wouldn't begin her first shift rotation until twenty-two hundred hours so she had nowhere to be for the next twelve hours. K'nera knew that she should try to rest since she hadn't slept well while in transit to Talceus Prime but she wasn't tired so instead she pulled out her personal datapad and brought up the letter that she'd been trying to write Alexander in response to his latest one. A letter that was slow going for sure.

Every time that K'nera read through Alexander's latest transmission she couldn't help but recall the last time that they'd been together. She missed Alexander terribly but at the same time she was grudgingly happy to have the space that they now had so that she could think clearly without either her or his emotions to get in the way. She'd been down this road before with another Klingon and she knew that the wisest thing for either of them to do would be to end their relationship now before they got in any further. Though to be honest, it was likely too late to prevent any heartache. At times, it had been almost as if Alexander could touch her very soul when they were together.

* * *

Worf sat at the planning table with his friend and Chancellor, Martok, and reviewed the list of ships that had been scrounged up for the upcoming attack that the Empire and the Federation was planning against the Dominion. It was clear that in order to win this war the Alliance would need to take the fight directly down the throat of the Jem'Hadar and Breen.

Already, the Cardassians were realizing that they had chosen the wrong side and were striking back against their new meant that the Dominion was now fighting a war on two fronts. One against the Alpha-Quadrant's joined forces and one against their own allies. That made now the perfect time to move against them. That is if the Klingon Empire and the other powers of the Alpha-Quadrant could come up with enough ships that could give them a decent fighting chance. Too many of their ships lately have fallen in battle and others were still slated for repairs.

"The _Y'tem_ will be ready for battle once more by the time we are prepared to make our move," Worf added after a moment of silence. "Captain Rokis is a competent commander but his ship is woefully understaffed right now."

"Good, it is a fine ship," Martok nodded his head as he stroked his beard as he thought. "We should have plenty of soldiers to fill the crew rosters. Transfer everyone that is assigned to a ship that is being repaired to make sure that the ships that are going into battle have enough men."

"I'll pull the crews from the _B'renta_, _Golork_, and the _Ya'Vang_ and reassign them to the _Y'tem _and other ships that need additional men. That should be enough to see to it that Rokis has a full crew."

Martok eyed his friend at the mention of the ship that the man's son was stationed on. "How has Alexander been? I have not heard you mention him lately."

"He is well," Worf said briskly only to pull back with a heavy sigh. "At least I am told that he is."

"You have not asked him for yourself? Worf, what is wrong with you? I thought that this rift between you and he had been settled."

"It has been… I… I just do not think that it would be in his best interest if I make my presence known too often when it comes to his new life within the Empire."

"That is a sorry excuse and you know it. First you didn't feel that you should speak to him too often when he lived as a Human and now that he is living as a Klingon Warrior you still hold back. He is your son, Worf, and he deserves more from his father than silence as he marches off to battle."

"I feel that my silence does him more good than my words ever could," Worf said honestly. "When he first joined the Empire he proclaimed that he was of no House. Now he still is not known by others as my son, instead he is known as T'knehzoR of the House of Martok."

"That does not mean that he is not proud to be your son, Worf. You are a noble man and your son knows that you hold high ideals. If I had not found you to be so, I would have never of asked you into my House. But I have also found that you are a stubborn fool when it comes to your son. The only times that I have ever seen you doubt yourself is when it comes to matters of your heart, my friend. Especially where Alexander is concerned. Talk to him Worf," Martok said assertively yet with compassion. "With what is on the horizon, there may not be another chance if you wait too long."

* * *

Alexander read his new orders on the datapad nearly in disbelief. The _Ya'Vang_ had been damaged to the point where it will take weeks to be fixed (once it is moved to the top of the list of ships to be repaired) so its crew had been reassigned to other ships that were heading toward the front-lines. Word had it that a major battle was on the horizon, one that would tip the scale in the war against the Dominion. Every Klingon that Alexander knew seemed to walk with their shoulders held back just a bit more and walked with more pride in their steps at the thought of a glorious victory in the near future.

Alexander hoped with all of his heart that the war could be won soon. He had seen far too many of his friends and comrades die and he had no desire to see more join them in Stovokor. Nor did Alexander plan to cut his own life short anytime soon; in honorable death or not. He hoped to keep his promise and be able to return to Earth and ease the worry that he knew that his grandparents had for him while away at war. Not mention, he missed his home on Earth. It would be good to plan a visit there once the war was over.

Reading the datapad, he saw that his new commanding officer would be Captain Rokis of the _Negh'Var-_class warship _Y'tem_; a ship even larger than the _Ya'Vang_, a _Vor'cha_-class ship. The design of the _Vor'cha_-class maintains the typical Klingon configuration with a forward module supported by a thick horizontal neck running aft and spreads out into a larger secondary hull. With a crew of nineteen hundred and a length of five hundred meters, _Vor'cha_-class vessels are one of the largest ships in the Klingon Empire. They are heavily armed, sporting eighteen disruptor cannons as well as three photon torpedo launchers. In addition, the forward section of the cruiser is equipped with a particularly powerful disruptor beam. The ships are equipped with both warp and impulse engines, and makes use of cloaking devices just as most other Klingon ships do.

The _Negh'Var_-class warship is the largest and most heavily armed Klingon vessel. The _Negh'Var_-class shares many similarities in design in relation to the vessel's shape, color and nacelles. However, with a length of nearly seven hundred meters and a crew of twenty-five hundred, the _Negh'Var_-class is substantially bigger than the _Vor'cha_-class. The class is heavily armed, with twenty disruptor banks and four torpedo launchers, as well as a large forward disruptor cannon protruding from the forward section. If Alexander had been impressed with the _Ya'Vang_, he knew that the _Y'tem_ will likely leave him speechless when he first sees it.

Alexander made a mental note that he should pull up the schematics of the ship so that he could familiarize himself with the layout before the transport arrives to take him to his new assignment. He certainly didn't want to end up wandering the ship lost while trying to find is duty station. On the _Y'tem_, he would be known from the very beginning as T'knehzoR of the House of Martok. He did not plan to bring dishonor to Martok after he had graciously taken him in as a member of his family by stumbling around like the hybrid child that he knew he had to have appeared as when the man first met him. He wanted to make both Martok and his father proud of him.

Thinking of his father, Alexander scrolled down further on the datapad and saw that his father had sent him a Holo-letter. Smiling, Alexander listened to the brief note as the coarse man spoke the simple words of greeting. A man of few words; that was his father. He preferred action just as he knew that many Klingons did. Alexander figured that he must take after his mother. She had been an ambassador after all which meant that she battled with words much in the same way that he did. At times, Alexander wondered if he inherited anything of his father's at all. Perhaps his father did as well.

In the letter, Alexander heard his father go on about how things had been going back on Deep Space Nine. He filled the time talking about a subject that Worf was the most comfortable with, work. Still, it was a message from the gruff man for which Alexander was grateful. He learned through the message that Lady Sirella had already set the new lands that Martok had gained when he became the Chancellor in order. She and Martok's daughters were settling into the Capital well.

In addition, he was told that Drex had recently been promoted to the position of Second Officer onboard the _ValQIS_. Like many were sure to, Alexander wondered momentarily if the promotion had anything to do with Martok's own recent raise in status but he was sure that if the crew on the _ValQIS _found Drex to be lacking as a commanding officer he would know very soon. Klingons don't take well to following orders given by those whom they consider to be their lesser.

As the holo-letter came to a close, Worf expressed the desire for Alexander to join him on his next leave, just as soon as the war permitted. He made mention of the desire to go targ hunting for which Alexander didn't really care to do but the idea of being invited along was too much to pass up. He was just glad that his father wanted him along.

Perhaps he should ask Ch'Targh to give him some pointers so that he could practice throwing the traditional hunting spear that he knew that his father would insist on using on the hunt. That way he would make his father proud of him rather than causing the man to correct him the whole time they are off hunting, whenever that will be.


	14. XIV

Lwaxana Troi looked up from where she was watching her young son playing with some toys on the floor when one of her fellow delegates whom had been rescued and assigned to the refugee camp walked into her quarters. Yaxara had been one of Lwaxana's oldest friends from the time that they'd both been very young. The two had been lucky enough to both escape the invasion of Betazed together. It had been Yaxara who had helped Lwaxana through her grief of losing her valet and friend, Lon Holm.

He had given his life to protect Lwaxana's son while she was in the Great Hall meeting with the other leaders of the Houses of Betazed. When the Jem'Hadar arrived on the planet's surface Holm used his own sizable strength and size to fight against the warriors. Lwaxana was one of the few people who knew that he had been a master at Tassa'Akai.

Tassa'Akai is a Betazoid fighting style which uses the akai, or Betazoid collapsible fighting baton. The style relies on rapid movement, precision strikes from unusual angles, and dodging, not on brute strength or direct attack. It also relies on the practitioner's telepathic powers to improve the warrior's fighting skills. The fighter uses his or her telepathic abilities to semi-subconsciously determine what the opponent will do next. The telepath then reacts to that maneuver almost before the foe has consciously conceived of it, which gives him or her a substantial advantage. Watching two skilled Tassa'akailar fight is almost like watching a ballet, albeit one with deadly intent.

The fact that nearly all Masters of Tassa'Akai were female made Holm's own mastery impressive. He had been very protective of Lwaxana for which she would forever be grateful. From what she had been told, he faced off against a whole squadron of Jem'Hadar just before being beamed away from the planet. Once on the Federation Starship _Savannah_ Holm spoke only one word to the medical team while indicating to the small boy for whom he'd given his life, Troi. The medical team had been unable to heal him from his numerous wounds but with his final word they were able to ensure that the child was reunited with his mother once they arrived at the rendezvous with the other ships that had taken on refugees from the planet's surface.

Yaxara's presence in Lwaxana's quarters was a common thing while living on the Klingon planet of Talceus Prime. What wasn't common was the news that she had to share. Upon hearing it, Lwaxana stood from where she'd been watching her son play with his blocks and asked Yaxara to watch him as she left her quarters in search of confirmation of what she had been told.

Lwaxana pulled her wrap around more tightly to block out the bitter cold as she made her way to the outer city. As she reached the building that was her destination she smiled as she sensed the young woman that the whole city was talking about. She then pushed the button to summon the occupant of the new set of quarters and waited for the strange blonde woman whom she'd met for the first time aboard a Klingon ship to answer the door. When she did, it was clear that she hadn't expected anyone, especially Lwaxana, to decide to visit her.

Remembering K'nera's discomfort with communicating through the use of telepathy, Lwaxana forced herself to speak just as she would with any other off-worlder.

"Ah, so the rumors are true. You, my Dear, have become the talk of the town."

"Ambassador Troi," K'nera acknowledged her guest; one whom she wasn't sure just how she felt about finding at her doorstep.

"Lwaxana, please. I came to see how you were adjusting to life around here."

"With so many other telepaths around, you mean?" K'nera reluctantly moved aside from the door to allow the ambassador entrance into her small, single-occupant quarters. She only hoped that Lwaxana wouldn't stay long since her shift rotation was scheduled to begin in only an hour.

"I do recall that you weren't too used to having all of us on that Klingon ship that you were on when I saw you last." Lwaxana stepped into the room and glanced about the room before she spoke again, "You haven't decided to decorate your room yet, I see. Perhaps I should help you touch it up just a bit. After all, there is no sense in surrounding yourself with such a drab room if you don't have to."

"The room suits me just fine, Ambassador. Excuse me for asking, but I am surprised to find you here. I was under the impression that the only people who would be living here are Betazoids with nowhere else to go after the invasion of Betazed. Why are you here? I would have expected that you would be elsewhere; with your daughter perhaps."

"Deanna doesn't need me underfoot. Plus she is stationed near the front lines. After the attack on Betazed, I wasn't keen on taking Barim onto a Starfleet ship again anytime soon… Especially after losing my valet…"

K'nera felt the grief that flowed out of the older Betazoid woman despite her flamboyant and lighter than air attitude. She supposed that the ambassador was very close to her valet. "I'm sorry I asked."

"Don't be ridiculous. Now," Lwaxana took a good look around the baron room exasperated as she spoke. She then strolled further into the room to get a better idea of just what she had to work with. "Let's do something about this room, shall we? While we work on the room you can tell me all about just what brought you here. And of course just when I can expect to see Alexander here to see you."

K'nera rolled her eyes as she figured that by the end of the ambassador's visit she would have quite a bit of useless knickknacks to put into the reprocessor to dispose of it all. Still, she had the distinct feeling that any attempts to stop the woman from doing precisely what she wanted to do would be absolutely futile so there really didn't seem like much point in trying for now.

"I wouldn't count on seeing him here anytime soon, Ambassador. He is still stationed aboard the _Ya'Vang_ and I don't see it being assigned to this sector while there are more important places for it to be."

"Perhaps places that the Empire would consider to be more important but by the way he felt about you when I saw him, I doubt that he'll agree with their opinions. I trust that the two of you finally got together after I lef-" Lwaxana stopped in mid-sentence as she sensed an emotional shift in K'nera. "Oh dear, don't tell me that the two of you are still dancing around one another? I know how Alexander felt months ago for you and I KNOW that you had to have known as well. Just what were you two waiting on?"

"It's not as simple as knowing how the other feels, Ambassador." K'nera felt right defensive of her relationship with Alexander and didn't like the fact that the woman had decided to make her feelings for Alexander her business. Especially since she hadn't even really had a chance to speak with Alexander about what had happened before the ship was boarded. K'nera had no reason to want to discuss it with Lwaxana instead.

"It can be as simple or as complicated as you let it, Young One. So tell me, just what is it that makes things seem so complicated when it can really be as simple as breathing?"

"You know nothing of Klingon relationships or traditions, Ambassador," K'nera turned away and walked over toward the small port-hole sized window that was in her quarters to look out toward the city as she spoke. All the while feeling the probing questions of the other telepath begging to be allowed into her mind.

With her face taking on an appalled look, Lwaxana scowled, "You mean to stand there and tell me that you won't act on your feelings for Alexander because he is a Klingon?! You of all people? A woman who was raised by them?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all!" K'nera turned back away from the window with a touch of anger reflecting in her eyes. "It's not because Alexander is a Klingon, it's because I'm not one!"

"I don't understand. What does that have anything to do with it?"

"As a Klingon living among other Klingons, Alexander would face a lot of ridicule and scorn if he choses to mate with a non-Klingon. Society as a whole will turn on him. He's already had to overcome the fact that he's a quarter Human as it is." K'nera's jaw jutted out as she felt angry tears threatening to fall. "I won't be responsible for making what progress he's already made be for nothing… I care too much for him to stand in his way of being accepted for who he is in Klingon Society."

"Who he is, Young One, is yet to fully be explored. Yes he does live in the Klingon Empire now but that isn't all that he is; a warrior serving the Empire. The Alexander that I know has never liked the unfairness of rules." Lwaxana stepped forward and lifted K'nera's chin to look her in the eyes. "He was never meant to be boxed in by traditions or the opinions of others. He was born to be better than that. Don't try to lock him into those shackles simply because that is all that you know."

Lwaxana searched K'nera's thoughts and emotions as much as she could through the wall that the younger woman had erected around her heart and mind. After only a moment of searching Lwaxana turned back toward the lone chair in the tiny room to sit down before she continued.

"I've always imagined that Alexander was a lot like me. In fact, I once found myself in a relationship that wasn't all that popular among my friends and family, too." Lwaxana motioned for K'nera to sit on the bed (it being the only other place to sit in the room at the moment) while she spoke.

"You did?" K'nera asked speculatively.

"Oh yes. You see, when I married Ian, relationships between Betazoids and Humans were still quite unheard of. No one thought that they could work. Not really anyway." Lwaxana paused as she thought about Deanna's father fondly. "In fact, it was thought that a match with a Human could never reach the most intimate level; but they were wrong. Ian was my Imzadi."

"Imzadi? What's that?"

Lwaxana's eyes widened at the question. "My, you really don't know much about your own heritage, do you?" The elder Betazoid shook her head as she began to explain. "Imzadi is often used for a term of endearment for that first individual that a Betazoid is intimate with, not only on a physical level but on a spiritual one as well. Think of it as saying, _Beloved_ or _Dear One_. For me, it was as if despite the fact that Ian wasn't a fellow telepath, it felt as if he could touch the very center of my soul."

K'nera blinked as she heard the words. After all, she had felt much in the same way about Alexander. As if he could touch a part of her that she hadn't even known existed. "You said that others didn't understand, didn't approve… But you didn't let that stop you."

"I've rarely let anything or anyone stop me from doing whatever I have my heart set on," Lwaxana laughed at the truth of what she had just said. "Life is too short to waste time on wondering what could have been without at least trying to see for oneself just what possibilities can be achieved if you were to just reach out and grab a hold of them. Ian and I spent several years together and I've never regretted a moment that we spent together. In fact, I don't think that I've ever been happier than when I was married to him… I suppose I've been looking for that same happiness ever since I lost him."

Lwaxana got a faraway look as she thought about all of the close calls in her search for love over the years. One call got closer than the others, that's true, but there was nothing that could quite compare with the love that she'd shared with the young Starfleet Officer who had swept her off her feet the first time she'd been sent aboard a Federation Starship on a diplomatic mission to Earth.

"Take it from me. Never pass up an opportunity at real happiness. Especially if it is only at the cost of tradition and rules. Traditions cannot keep you company on a lonely night."

* * *

After reading through both his orders and listening to his father's letter, Alexander made his way to the communication terminal to finally be able to get in touch with K'nera through subspace. He sat back as he waited for the connection to the new outpost that K'nera was now stationed at. He had been able to send a couple of messages to her so far while she had been recuperating since the attack on the _Ya'Vang_ but this would be the first time that he'd actually be able to see her face to face. Well, sort of. Speaking by way of subspace was better than sending holo-letters and certainly better than nothing.

When the view screen flickered and the Klingon Empire's emblem was replaced with K'nera's image, Alexander grinned. He was glad to see her much healthier than she had been the last time he had seen her. He just wished that the two of them could be assigned to the same post once more so that he could actually reach out and touch her.

"Alexander," K'nera acknowledged him through subspace while feeling a bit awkward. This was the first time that she'd ever spoken to him without being able to pick up on his emotions or thoughts. She felt out of her element in the vacuum of space. Though much of what Alexander felt and thought often showed itself in his face. "I've missed you."

Hearing her actually say that made Alexander smiled more broadly. "I've missed you, too. I'm glad that you've finally gotten well enough to be released from Medical Leave. I just wish you hadn't been reassigned instead of sent back to the _Ya'Vang_."

"So do I." And she did.

In the time since she had been on Talceus Prime, K'nera had begun to remember just how harsh life was for a non-Klingon trying to live in Klingon Society. She was well aware of the fact that her duties last night during her shift were nothing more than a series of tasks to keep her busy and away from the main Klingon Complex. She had gone over the planetary defense sub-systems with a fine-tooth comb just as she had been instructed to since there appeared to be a glitch in the system.

An alarm showed that there was a power routing error but for some reason there was nothing listed as to where the power error was occurring. Just before the end of her shift K'nera found that deep down in the very core of the system a simple coupling had been ripped out of the power relay. That had been an intentional act and had been very deliberate in the placement of the error.

"Of course, there would have been no guarantee of us still being able to serve together even if you had been," Alexander reached toward the datapad that he'd set aside before connecting with K'nera. "Orders have been sent out to most of the crew. We're being reassigned to other ships closer to the frontlines. I've been ordered to report to the _Y'tem _at the first of the week."

"The_ Y'tem_?" K'nera tried to remember if she'd ever heard of that ship. She couldn't but then, she'd spent nearly her entire stint within the Empire on the _Ya'Vang_ under her uncle's command.

"It's one of the ships being sent to the Bajoran System. From what I understand, things are about to heat up out there very soon."

"You sound as if you what's about to happen," K'nera gave a wry grin in an effort recapture the easy feeling that she'd often felt while around Alexander. After the night that she had on duty she needed a lightened mood. "One of the benefits of being a member of the Ruling House now?"

"I don't know much more than anyone else does," Alexander shook his head as he spoke. "I did get a message from my father when I got my orders and it just seemed like there was a lot that he didn't actually say but the words were there anyway."

"One of your gifts; being able to read people _nearly_ as well as a telepath," K'nera joked as she eased back in her solitary chair in her quarters. "I think you've missed your calling. Maybe you should be a diplomat instead. You do seem to have a knack for it."

Alexander made a face briefly before chuckling as well. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about what would happen if someone tried to join the various fractions of the Empire together through diplomacy but he had the feeling that even trying to pursue such an idealistic dream would be foolish. The Klingon race as a whole just wasn't ready for such attempts; were they?

"I don't think so. Anyway, from the sound of it, the Federation and Romulans are even massing enormous fleets."

"Preparing for an _All or Nothing_ approach?"

"Possibly. I can't say I'm not ready to see the end of this war with the Dominion. There are a lot of things that I want to do just as soon as some sort of ceasefire is reached," Alexander confessed to probably the only individual in the Empire that he didn't have to feel shame in regards to his lack of blood lust.

"Like what?"

Alexander smiled as he thought about his father's holo-letter with a whimsical look on his face. "Well, I've promised my grandparents that I'd go see them on Earth as soon as I could. Now my father has suggested a hunting trip, too. We haven't done that since I left the _Enterprise_." He then straightened his posture a bit as he looked directly into K'nera's eyes as he added, "But first I plan to be on the first transport to Talceus Prime at the earliest chance I get."

"Alexand-"

"I haven't changed my mind, K'nera. I meant what I said before."

"I know you did," K'nera couldn't help the small sad smile as she spoke. By his expression she could tell through subspace that he was prepared to dig his heels in for an argument. His eyes took on a fiery light and she could see his nostrils flare slightly. In effect, he looked adorable. A word that should never be associated with a Klingon but that was the word that came to K'nera's mind anyway. Now K'nera felt as if she was about to have nearly the same conversation with Alexander as she'd had the night before with Ambassador Troi before heading in for her her shift. "But we both know that what a relationship with me will mean for any Klingon; especially you."

"What do you mean by _Especially you_?"

"You've already had to overcome the fact that you have Human blood running through your veins. You've been tested every step along the way. You've finally gain some standing of your own. Do you really want to give up all that you've gained? Because that is exactly what will happen the moment anyone finds out about us."

Alexander worked his jaw just a bit as he thought through what K'nera was saying. She was worried about him. Worried about how others would treat not her but him once others learned of his involvement with a Betazoid. He knew that her argument probably had some merit but right frankly he didn't care all that much.

"K'nera, the only way that I've been able to gain anything was with your help. You were the one that helped me overcome some of the stigma of being a hybrid in the first place. You've helped me become a Klingon. I don't see how the two of us being together could hurt either of us. Even my father has proven that a relationship with Klingon and an alien can work."

"There is one major difference with your father, Alexander. Your father is a Starfleet Officer. The two of us serve in the KDF. What is accepted in the Federation isn't necessarily something that can work here."

"It can if we want it to," Alexander insisted. "Don't we owe it to ourselves to at least try?"

K'nera had a refusal on the tip of her tongue. It would be the right thing to do; to insist that he forget about her and set his attention towards a Klingon woman instead. There were more than enough who would flock in his direction the moment that he returned any interest in them. Not only was Alexander attractive but now he was a member of a very powerful House in the Empire.

She nearly voiced that refusal but was stopped as she heard the echo of Alexander's anguished cry when she was struck down during the attack on the _Ya'Vang._ Then she remembered how worried she had been for Alexander above anyone else when she first woke up at the Medical Field Hospital when she couldn't sense him. The whole time she had been away from Alexander, K'nera has felt as if a part of herself was missing. A piece of her soul. Instead, K'nera found herself holding back a small laugh. The advice that Lwaxana gave her rang in her mind and the idea that she could have anything in common with the unusual woman seemed absolutely ludicrous.

"You don't ever do things the easy way do you? Your first relationship and it will not only be an inter-species one but an interstellar one too."

Alexander squinted his eyes before joining in by chuckling. "Well, I have heard that we Klingons aren't known for doing anything the easy way."

"No, I suppose not." K'nera settled more relaxed for the rest of their allotted time to use the communication channel. "Klingons fight for everything they have."

"I don't mind. So long as it's worth fighting for."


End file.
